


Tiger's Loneliness

by Akhimy



Series: Deadly Sins and Dark Desires   Série [5]
Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Angst, Developing Relationship, Falling In Love, Forbidden Love, M/M, Rape/Non-con Elements, Romance, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:26:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 32,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26512123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akhimy/pseuds/Akhimy
Summary: The laws of the Council that governed the lives of the Shifters were very clear: the Shifters had to keep their existence secret, and that meant minimizing as much as possible their interactions with the Humans who had once hunted them in large numbers. And the consequences for those who broke them were ruthless.But the Human with the bright azure eyes and the luminous smile had turned the old Shifter's heart upside down and he was no longer sure he was able or even willing to continue to follow these laws. All he wanted was to continue to be close to the Japanese, why should he be forbidden to do so ?
Relationships: Yuri Arbatov/Takaba Akihito
Series: Deadly Sins and Dark Desires   Série [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738096
Comments: 28
Kudos: 19





	1. Captivity

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!I hope you'll enjoy this new fanfiction, don't hesitate to tell me what you think about it, I'll put more details on some concepts at the end of the chapter ;)
> 
> The extra from Hokkaido island (I'm going to change the name because it won't happen in Hokkaido after all ^^' ) will be the next one to be published but I don't know when, I'm still getting used to the university and it's still a mess with the distance and face-to-face classes unfortunately.  
> With the extra, I'll change some parts of the first chapters (explicitly put the sex scenes and a couple of other things that needed improvement).
> 
> In short, I hope you'll like the chapter, be careful, I wish you a good start to the school year (a little late!).

The dark sky was tinged with an almost bloody orange over the immense metropolis, the huge glass towers reflecting it like so many clear, smooth seas, as the capital slowly began to awaken with the sun.

Walking on the clean, damp sidewalks of the night rain that had fallen on the city during the night with the few people who had to get up early to get to work, the young photographer had to hold back the excitement that electrified him, his brisk footsteps and good humor contrasting with the other passers-by. 

He was going to be able to take pictures of a Siberian tiger for an animal report. It was a change from the usual wedding and modeling photos and Akihito would be lying if he claimed that the idea of being so close to a wild animal, being able to observe the workings of the Tokyo Zoo and seeing so many exotic animals did not excite him like a child.

He soon found himself on the outskirts of Ueno Park, where the leaves of the trees let out drops of ice water and the songs of the birds could be heard in the distance. The young man walked along the park until he saw the high walls surrounding the zoo and the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. He finally saw the rather inconspicuous entrance to the complex and took out his ID card and a copy of the email he had received for the report to the person who was standing in front of the only entrance that was open at the moment.

The man was satisfied with a brief greeting, gave him a map of the zoo and quickly showed him the location of the animal hospital before returning to his post, letting him wander around the park. Akihito took advantage of the peacefulness of the place before the crowds arrived, slightly disappointed that the animals had not yet come out of their night pens, and soon found himself near the bear pen where the other members of the report, Kou, the boom staff, and his girlfriend Mai, the journalist, and Mitarai, the cameraman, were gathered. He had to take pictures to illustrate the articles on the channel's website and their magazines. A rather well-paid job, especially considering the state of his bank account.

\- Hi Akihito! Pleased to meet you finally, I hope that we will get along well during the report!

Mai practically jumped on him, a real tornado with brown hair dyed in blond chestnut, her warm brown eyes betraying her dynamism and a real joy of life, and Akihito had to hold back not to take a step back of surprise and clumsily hugged her, slightly embarrassed by the glances of her two other colleagues on him.

Kou merely greeted him with a wave of his hand, cigarette lit between his lips, his medium-length ink hair swept by the morning wind, and Mitarai, a man with chestnut hair and wearing a goatee, shook his hand forcefully before patting his back.

\- The tiger is apparently on its way. Ai, a caretaker of the tigers, is going to take care of him and then we leave to take him to his new home.

Akihito nodded his head distractedly, the cold autumn wind freezing his lungs and letting his breath turn into a mist in the air, his eyes looking at the enclosures around them, the staff starting to run around, sagging at their work and final preparations before the arrival of the tourists.

\- Are you here for the report?

A tall man approached them, his golden eyes staring at them with an almost disturbing intensity that gave the young man a shiver of discomfort. The man must have been important, given his expensive suit and watch and his black hair perfectly coiffed back.

\- Yes. And you are?

The man smiled and accepted Mai's hand, visibly amused by the young woman's enthusiasm.

\- Asami Ryuichi, the zoo director. And who are you?

\- I am Mai, and this is my companion, Kou, Mitarai and Akihito.

The man's golden gaze fell on him and Akihito felt his heart miss a beat, feeling strangely uncomfortable with this look, and crossed his arms on his chest to give himself some composure, the strap of his backpack bruising his shoulder, his gaze sticking into the man's until the man looked away, visibly amused.

\- Happy to make your acquaintance, the tiger should be arriving soon so I will leave you to your work, I hope to get to know you better later.

He greeted them before leaving, leaving his place to a young man with wavy blond hair and a woman with light blond, almost platinum dyed hair, both of whom were wearing the zoo staff outfits.

\- Hello everyone! We are Takato and Ai. He is the caretaker of the tigers and I am the veterinarian sent by the rehabilitation center, you will be with us during the day.

The girl with blond hair greeted them one by one before their walkie-talkies started to sputter, the voice of a colleague alerting them to the arrival of the truck, so Akihito and his colleagues hurriedly took out their things, getting ready to start their report.

Mai immediately placed herself in front of Kou and Mitarai, one of her hands correctly replacing the few strands of hair that the wind had blown away before starting to speak into her microphone with a professional seriousness and calm that impressed Akihito. He didn't really listen to what the journalist was saying, his hands eagerly holding his camera as he watched the truck slowly approach.

\- The tiger is said to have come from Siberia and, according to the testimonies of the police officers who recovered the animal, was probably captured by poachers to be sold on the Tokyo black market.

The truck finally stopped, and Akihito started taking pictures as the two drivers got out to talk with Takato and Ai, probably about the tiger's journey and condition.

\- Ueno Zoo agreed to take in the tiger for the time it takes to heal and to partner with the PRNCO Tiger Center, a tiger rehabilitation center, to reintroduce the tiger into the wild. The zoo also hopes to obtain a mating and kittens with at least one of their Siberian tigers during the male's stay here.

Akihito approached the back of the truck, being careful to stay out of the field of view of Mitarai's camera, and photographed the staff opening the doors of the truck, revealing a huge metal cage with a dark silhouette on a bed of straw. The staff gently lowered the cage and with difficulty placed it on a forklift that another staff member - presumably a caretaker from another pen - immediately took off in the direction of the zoo's veterinary center with Ai and the two truckers.

\- Follow me.

Kou took them to the veterinary center through another entrance, and arrived at the point where the tiger was placed on the examination table that had been lowered to the ground to make it easier for the trio who had used a harness to lift the animal without too much difficulty.

Ai thanked the two men and the caretaker who had disappeared, probably to keep busy before having to transport the feline to the tiger enclosure again, and cleaned his hands before putting on gloves and an apron, raising the table to a normal height.

Akihito looked with interest at the huge tiger lying all the way down on the table, impressed by its immense size that seemed almost abnormal to him and the purulent wounds that speckled the thick orange-black tiger fur.

\- According to the shelter that took him in for the night, he would weigh 370 kilos and measure 4 meters long. This is huge, even for a Siberian tiger.

The tiger's fur was a bright orange almost like gold with thin and elegant dark stripes, each of its legs was the size of the young photographer's head and had long claws the size of daggers, its enormous head was surrounded by a thicker fur collar, almost like a thin mane. And his mouth was so huge that Akihito was certain that he must have been able to tear off a deer's head without the slightest difficulty with the death-dealing devices that must have been inside.

They watched Ai work in silence, all impressed by the many wounds and the cruelty that the sleeping beast had suffered, not even daring to film or take pictures.

\- He will be fine; it will only take a few weeks for the wounds to completely heal. Now let's take him to his new home, I'm sure the other tigers will be thrilled to have a new playmate.

Akihito took his eyes off the sleeping body of the tiger whose wounds were now covered with ointments, and went to the tiger enclosure with Mitarai while Mai interrogated Ai and the tiger was brought to the night enclosure.

\- What a beast! Can you imagine that there are people who are ready to eat their balls? I'd rather make a rug out of it, it's much more useful.

Mitarai burst out with a light, fat laugh and hit him on the photographer's back. The photographer sneered, embarrassed by the man's words, and leaned against the metal fence that surrounded the enclosure to watch Takato feed the tigers with pieces of raw meat.

\- You can go inside; they have just installed the tiger and your friends are waiting for you inside.

Mitarai thanked him before grabbing Akihito by the arm to pull him inside the building plunged in a slight darkness.

The young man got out of the cameraman's grip, his nose starting to burn and tickle him because of the straw that occupied the entire floor of the building, and crouched down in front of the tiger's wire box, finding himself once again fascinated by the beast, his hands itching to caress the thick fur.

Until the tiger starts wriggling in its litter, surprising Akihito who preferred to step aside in case he gets aggressive. The tiger simply stood up with some difficulty, apparently still under the influence of sedatives, and turned to them, his golden eyes staring at them with some hostility, his long tail whipping the air.

\- It should be given a name. Do you have any ideas?

The tiger approached them suspiciously, his nose wiggling slightly as he sniffed their smells, his ears rising to the sound of their voices.

\- We could call him... I don't know, Vladimir, after the president ?

Kou and Takato wince at Mai's proposal and Mitarai growled in a mocking tone, his lips curling into a slightly superior smile.

\- Completely stupid idea. Why not, Igor? It sounds good.

Akihito felt a shiver run through him when the golden eyes fell on him and a whisper escaped him:

\- Why not Yuri? Like Yuri Gargarine, the guy who was in space?

Takato nodded approvingly and took out a notebook before hesitantly asking, pencil in hand.

\- How do you spell it again? With an "o" or without?

Akihito listened as they debated over the writing of the first name, hypnotized by the liquid gold gaze that stared at him with an almost invasive calm, and the young man had the strange impression of seeing humanity in the eyes of the fawn.

\- It will be Yuri without an "o" then! You can go home for now, we'll leave him in his stall until he adjusts, you won't have much to tell.

The young man took a few pictures of Yuri before leaving the pen with his colleagues who greeted him before leaving the zoo - they would come back when the visitors left for the evening care and get a summary of what the Siberian tiger had been able to do during their absence - and Akihito stayed to walk around and visit the place, taking pictures of the other animals present.

\- You're not leaving?

He was photographing the giraffes in the African part of the park when he felt the almost oppressive presence of Asami Ryuichi behind him, and the man's dark voice made his hair stand up in irritation.

\- I can visit the park for free, why not?

He glanced at the man leaning on the bar next to him, a burning cigarette between his lips, his golden eyes resting on him, reminding him of Yuri's eyes. But while Yuri's reminded him of two calm and peaceful golden lakes, Asami's looked at him as if he was a funny gerbil for a predator.

\- You are right to enjoy it. Are you hungry?

Akihito held back from declining the offer, feeling nervous about the man's interest in him, not wanting to alienate the director and risk causing bad relations with the other members of the story, and nodded stiffly before following the director through the dense and noisy zoo crowd until he arrived at one of the zoo's restaurants, which was surprisingly uncrowded despite the early afternoon crowd.

The young man looked around, reassured by the presence of other people in the area, and sat down at the first bench he found and grabbed one of the cards to see the dishes on offer:

\- I'll have a chef's burger and coke.

Akihito placed his bag next to him and held back a sigh of relief when the weight left his shoulder, and crossed his arms over his chest, getting defensive as Asami sat down in front of him and snapped his fingers to call a waiter. Did he think he was impressed? It made him look like an arrogant rich bastard.

\- The young man would have a burger from the chef and some Coke. And I'll have a Basque chicken with crudités and a glass of wine.

Asami waited for the waiter to leave before crossing his hands and putting his chin on it, a slight smile on the corners of his lips.

\- Do you like your job as a photographer, Akihito?

Akihito grabbed a piece of bread and chewed it before answering, his fingers playing with a paper napkin so he didn't have to look at the man.

\- Of course. Otherwise I'll do another job, don't you think?

His aggressive tone seemed to surprise the man, who stood up, grew colder, and answered slowly.

\- Not everyone does the job they want to do. Why are you doing this report?

The young man forced himself to relax and take a softer tone as the waiter returned with their drinks.

\- It's well paid. It's a change from what I usually do and I get to observe animals that are rarely seen. And you, why did you decide to become a zoo director?  
The dark-haired man seems to relax and Akihito takes a sip of Coke before he responds with almost no emotion :  
\- I'm a rather important businessman in the city and I bought the zoo a few years ago. I come here from time to time, being close to the animals allows me to de-stress and enjoy a good day out of the office.  
So Asami was not an animal lover as you would expect from someone working in a zoo.   
\- What kind of business do you run?  
\- Nothing interesting, luxury clubs and a few companies.   
They were interrupted again by the waiter who gave them their food and Akihito immediately dived on the food to avoid having to talk to the businessman in front of him. That is, if he really was a businessman.   
Akihito, as a freelance photographer, had already had the opportunity to work with the police on the Japanese mafia, and, if at one time the young man was full of those preconceived ideas that one could make yakuzas out of - like most people - he now knew that the Japanese mafia had changed a lot in the last few years. Surrounded by the anti-gang laws put in place by the government, they had had to hide behind legal activities in order not to get caught, and while the small gangsters loved to get huge tattoos to scare people, the higher-ranking members of the organization tended to get small, discreet tattoos or even not to worry so that they could return to a normal life more easily if they ended up having to end their careers in one way or another.   
In short, Akihito preferred to avoid a man who could turn out to be a high-ranking member of a yakuza group like the Yamaguchi-gumi or the Inagawa-kai. And even though his thirst for justice was itching to bring down this kind of guy with his pictures, he had worked with the police enough to know that you don't mess with these kinds of criminals without paying the consequences.  
\- Sorry but I have to go, I have to go home to send the pictures to the editor.  
His excuse was bogus, as was the worried glance at his phone to look at the time and his hasty tone. If Asami had fried him, he didn't show it, just stood up and thanked him for lunch, offering to walk him back to the park. Akihito politely declined the offer and rushed out of the restaurant, leaving behind a half-eaten hamburger and a Coke base.   
He left the zoo, preferring not to stay in case he ran into the man and had to justify his presence, and returned home, a blanket of loneliness suddenly enveloped him as he slumped on the couch of his small apartment, finding himself wanting someone else to be near him. Sighing, Akihito left his bag on the couch to fetch a beer from the fridge and his computer before returning to his old job to begin work, forgetting his loneliness and gloom at work. 

The sound of footsteps outside the enclosure made Yuri's ears stand up and he sniffed the air for the potential scent of visitors. There was only the smell of piss, shit, straw, other tigers, and humans who had come to see him earlier. The Shifter felt his fur tingle in remembrance of one of them. A human with blond hair reminding him of the aurora of his native Siberia on misty winter mornings and whose azure eyes were the skies of summer. He also remembered his smell: cereals, hazelnuts and the scents of the forests on sunny days. A young single 24 year old male Human male in perfect health who was visibly very lonely. So much information contained in a simple smell, more precise than the identity cards with which the members of his species carried around.

And when the Human had plunged his limpid gaze into his own, the Shifter found himself unable to look away, hypnotized by these two orbs tinged with sadness and fascination, as if the Human could have seen something in him, perhaps the fact that he felt that he was not just a simple tiger?

Yuri turned his head when the gate of the enclosure opened and the smell he smelled signaled to him that it was not the visitors who had come to see him twice. A Shifter. More precisely a Garou. About 350 years old, unmarried but obviously enjoying carnal relations with males and females, a smoker but in good health, his animal part was that of a black panther - which amounted to being a black-coated leopard - and he was the leader of a Clan of motley fawns - which was rare enough to note.

\- You can take back your human, animal form. It's just the two of us.

Yuri sniffed and rose to the man's imperious and arrogant tone, holding a grunt of pain in the depths of his chest as his wounds began to burn him like flames. He couldn't regain his human form, not while his wounds were so severe. He approached the golden-eyed Shifter and sat down in front of him before starting to lick his flank, amused at the impatience he felt at home.

\- I brought something for you.

He saw the man place two bowls in front of him and Yuri perceived a faint scent of the perfume of the Human with beautiful azure eyes and the contentment of the Garou. Why had this Shifter approached him? Their species were not supposed to mix, the Council did not appreciate when one of them approached a Human for anything other than necessary business.

Yuri pushed his questions to the back of his mind, scolding himself for his concern for a Human, and cautiously sniffed at the contents of the bowls before beginning to empty them with his tongue. Nectar and ambrosia. The blood and milk of their ancestor, the divine Anima, from whom all Shifters were descended, whether Nahual or Garou. The nectar is red in color and has a sweet smell, and the ambrosia, similar to wild honey in color and texture.

\- You will not stay long at the zoo, you will be placed in a rehabilitation center for a few months and then you will be released back into the wild.

Yuri held back a rumble of frustration, deeply annoyed by the news. What if the poachers came back and attacked members of his clan? He couldn't count on his idiot brother who was always too busy sleeping or chasing other females of their species to take care of his own Clan. He could only count on Eva, his Clan mate, to repel poachers and look after theirs.

The Garou must have noticed his change of mood because he had a slow smile that Yuri would almost describe as vicious, and the man added slowly.

\- I could speed things up if you agreed to breed with one of our tigresses. She will soon go into heat and it would be cruel to deprive her of a male like you. And my zoo could use new tigers.

Yuri swallowed the roar of rage and indignation that ran through him, his long claws digging into the concrete with force. Luckily a fence separated them, because the Shifter was sure he would have stuck his fangs in the throat of the Japanese man in front of him. He had no right to give him such an order. Shifters were not supposed to breed with humans or animals - whether or not their animal form was of the same species - but obviously the Shifter in front of him didn't give a damn.

_Wait a little while until I talk about your actions at the Council._

The Council was the assembly that punished the crimes of the Shifters and made the laws. They were the first children of Anima, each representing a race. In any case, before their own offspring were divided into two kinds: those who listened to their Animal and Human parts, the Nahuals, and those who were content to stifle their Animal parts in order to privilege their Human parts, not wanting to pass for wild beasts and wanting to resemble the Humans, the Garous. Above all they were known for their ruthless punishment, so that few Shifters dared to break the laws.

Yuri nodded his head, accepting the humiliation in the hope of finding his own as soon as possible, his body still quivering with anger, unable to stop his tail from swinging angrily, sending straw in the air, his golden eyes staring at the Garou, who smiled before gently roaring, as if he were talking to a small child.

\- Good tomcat. Be nice to your new comrades and I might consider getting you out faster.

Yuri growled back, irritated by the smugness of this young male, and turned his back on the Werewolf to sleep, enjoying the warmth diffused throughout his body and the soothing sensation of the burns.

He was awakened in the morning by the flash of a camera and a "Shit! He was woken up in the morning by a camera flash and an angry, half whispered " Yuri pricked up his ears and took a deep breath to feel the smells around him and felt a gentle warmth spread throughout his chest. The tiger stood up, finally feeling great after spending days swimming in pain and painkillers that were putting him into an artificial sleep, and turned to the photographer who froze when he saw him, his hands still on the camera he was fidgeting with.

\- Hey, hey big guy. Sorry I woke you up, I forgot to remove the flash apparently. You're not too mad at me?

The tiger let a purr come out of his throat, his nose capturing the young man's depression and the slight discomfort he was feeling. The young man smiled and timidly approached his hand to the gate before whispering :

\- Do you have family, fatso?

Yuri sniffed the young man's hand, more to reassure him than anything else, and lowered his head, letting the boy caress him slowly, rightly fearing the risk of the animal turning against him, appreciating more than he should the sensation of the fingers in his fur.

He missed his clan. The days lazing in the clearings and watching Mikhail and Aaron play, letting them climb on him from time to time, teaching them how to hunt, and the nights spent in the cave where their entire tribe lived, listening to the stories of the elders.

He is a Human. You shouldn't let him do this kind of thing. He reminded him of his human part, to the great displeasure of his animal part. Yuri moved away from the young man to lap the water from his bowl, not liking being torn between his human part, the part that served as his reason and conscience, and his animal part, the part that represented his instinct and drives. This rarely happened, living in the hostile and harsh depths of Siberia allowed him to be attentive to his two parts which, more often than not, were always in agreement on the decisions to be taken.

\- Akihito! Are you already here?

The young Human stood up and Yuri turned his head towards the visitors. The rest of the film crew had obviously just arrived. The Nahual began to clean himself from the pieces of straw that were left on his coat, with the boy's name still on his mind. Akihito. A pretty name.

\- Yes, I arrived earlier than expected so...

Mai nodded her head, her hand still holding Kou's hand, and opened her eyes wide when she saw Yuri, an expression of astonishment without name in his brown eyes.

\- Damn it guys! Did you see that? He's practically cured!

Yuri growled slightly, annoyed by the young woman's shrill screams that almost pierced his eardrums, and watched the chestnut-haired human leave, probably to warn the doctor and the vet of the miracle that had happened during the night.

_The sooner I am healed, the sooner I will be back in the Clan._

The presence of poachers on their territory worried him. He worries about Mikhail and Aaron and about Nadia, Petrel's pregnant companion, and about his brother's ability to deal with the problem.

He heard Kou and Ai raving about the rapid healing of his wounds, and for a moment the discomfort and loneliness the young man felt disappeared, giving way to excitement and relief, and the Nahual watched them filming them for their report, his golden eyes finding it hard not to observe what the young photographer was doing.

\- Akihito, Yuri seems to enjoy your company. Could you help me to give him his care?  
The Shifter felt a shiver run through him when the young man accepted, his reason hammering that he should not enjoy being with the Human so much, the animal asking him more and more for the presence of the blond Japanese.

Yuri was lying on one of the rocks in the tiger enclosure, enjoying the sun that warmed his fur, bearing as best he could the howls of the dense crowd that crowded the alleys of the park like blood rushing through veins, his eyes wrinkled distractedly watching Akihito taking pictures of the other tigers. He was not going to see the young man again anyway once they released him into the wild, so why not enjoy those moments with him? His animal part was happy with this compromise and his human part was just satisfied to avoid them any nonsense. And he was happy to no longer be torn between his desires and his reason, being able to observe the young man with all his drunkenness as long as he remained discreet, not wanting to risk attracting the attention of a potential Shifter.

From what he had heard, they planned to take him to the rehabilitation center the next day. Tonight, he should breed with one of their tigresses that had been left in his box for the day.

\- Hey Akihito! How are you doing?

Ai's voice. Yuri straightened his head to look at them, feeling his hair stand up when he saw the girl take Akihito's hand in his hand and kiss her on the cheek, wrenching a slight smile from the photographer who blushed slightly.

\- Hi Ai, how are you?

\- It's fine, we all leave tomorrow with Yuri for the rehabilitation center.

He saw the Human's shoulders relax and the Nahual could almost feel the relief that must have emanated from him despite the smells of sweat and excitement that masked all the others.

\- Great! I'll tell you, I'm pretty happy to be leaving this zoo.

Akihito had spoken to him about the Garou's strange actions on numerous occasions, probably to be able to talk about his worries with someone, he who was very lonely. He had confessed to him half-worded that he had thought that the director might be a yakuza and that he felt that the man was trying to hit on him - and given the way homosexuality was viewed in Japan, Yuri could understand the young Human's unease - and was worried about the man's actions, which had become increasingly pressing during those two weeks at the zoo.

\- You know what? We should go to dinner together once we get to Russia, it would give us a chance to discover the local cuisine.

The girl's fingers touched one of Akihito's arms, who smiled, obviously not knowing how to react to such an invitation, and was content with an approving splutter before blushing when Ai kissed her on the lips before running away, apparently amused by the young boy's reactions. Irritated, the tiger came down from the rock to settle further away, surprised by his desire to stick his fangs in the girl's throat and see her blood flow.

The Nahual lay down in the shade of a tree and sighed deeply. Why did this Human make him like this? Surely his kindness and gentleness was appreciated, and Yuri enjoyed his visits where he talked to him about things and other things, distracting him from his worries and the weight of loneliness that had been weighing on him since he was locked up in that tiger pen. And he had fears about Asami's intentions towards the Human. But nothing that was supposed to make him react this way, nothing had ever made him react so much to his animal part.

It was only when the park was emptied of visitors that Kou approached him with a sort of stick with a rope at the end and began to hiss, holding a seal with meat in it to lure him into the night enclosure where the estrus tigress was. Alone in the building, Yuri began circling the tigress, who growled slightly as she showed her fangs, her excitement and need stinking the place. The Shifter grunted back, not really knowing how to react to the female, and slipped behind her, growling forcefully to force her to submit to him, the latter immediately crouching down, slightly bending her hind legs, moving her tail to allow him to access her femininity.

Yuri grunted, grabbing the skin of her neck before diving into her with a hard blow, a roar of pleasure escaping him when he felt the damp heat of the female tightening around him as she spat. The Nahual closed his eyes, tightening his grip on the female's flanks as a burst of the blonde-haired Human's scent reached his nose.

What would Akihito look like if he was born Shifter? Yuri could easily imagine him as a white tiger, a leopard or a small agile ocelot, and the Shifter felt his sex hardening at this idea, the boy with golden blond hair like the sun, aquamarine eyes and a bright and frank smile coming back to haunt him, causing tingling all over his body, a pleasant warmth spreading throughout his belly.

Yuri uttered a ferocious roar as he forcefully slammed his hips against his own, suddenly overwhelmed by his most primal instincts that erased his reason, and forcefully breathed in the discreet scent that made him lose his mind, and imagined Akihito beneath him, as a tiger with almost golden fur, moaning and roaring with pleasure.

He roared forcefully when he came and did not let the female under him rest as he was already starting to ride her again, his eyes closing to plunge him back into his illusion, his weight forcing the female to let him continue. They wanted babies? They could always wait, Yuri had learned a long time ago, when the Shifters were much more numerous than today, that the Shifters could only have children among themselves. What this 350-year-old male didn't seem to know, fortunately for him.

Yuri eventually released the female after a few more orgasms inside her, and collapsed to the ground, his breath gasping and skin burning from the effort, content to move his ears when the enclosure door opened on Kou, Ai and Akihito, the young man placing a water-filled bucket next to him as he squatted down to scratch the back of his ear, making the Nahual purr in spite of himself.

\- Sounds like you two had a good time.

Yuri stood up slowly, his body furrowed and painful, an intense feeling of embarrassment and shame warming his face, his eyes barely daring to look at the smiling young Human as he bent down to drink.

\- Great. Now we're going to give him a little shot and he'll sleep like a log up to the center.

The Nahual did not react when Kou took up his stick and put the rope around his neck, camped firmly in case he reacted while Ai pricked him, spreading the clear poison in his veins which soon made him numb. The Shifter lay down on the ground, the sleep starting to invade him without him being able to fight against it, his eyes resting one last time on those of Akihito before his too heavy eyelids closed.

\- Wake up, Nahual.

The cold, scornful voice brought him out of his heavy lethargy, the pungent smell of a Garou reaching him. Lynx, coupled with a lion, 350 years old, in good health, a high-ranking member of the Clan of Asami. Yuri slowly opened his eyes, the irritation already starting to give him murderous impulses, and looked around him. He was in a small indoor enclosure that reminded him of the one the tigers occupied in the Tokyo Zoo, with two screened doors leading to the inside of a concrete building and the other to the outside of his enclosure, and the Werewolf was in the white corridor, staring at him emotionlessly through his glasses, his hands clasped behind his back.

\- To thank you for your good behavior during your stay with us.

The lynx put a telephone in front of him before adding, his inexpressiveness and gloominess giving the Nahual the impression that the Shifter was a robot. Impossible to be so boring and empty.

\- If you want to take your human form, avoid getting caught. There is a room next door with lots of cardboard boxes. There you will find clothes and you can hide the phone. Asami thanks you again for your efforts.

The lynx left, leaving him alone, and Yuri took human form a few minutes after his departure, opening the cage door before grabbing the phone to dial a familiar number, his footsteps guiding him to the storage room which was visibly unused due to the absence of recent odors, his animal part demanding to follow the still fresh smell of Akihito.

\- Hello?

\- Hi Stanislas, it's me, Yuri.

He took the clothes out of one of the boxes, guided by his sense of smell, his heart beating between the excitement and apprehension of the news he was about to receive, reassured to know that someone was still in the little house that the Clan used to take refuge in case of danger.

\- Yuri! We all thought you were dead! Where are you now?

\- In a rehabilitation center for tigers. The PRCNO Tiger Center I think.

He felt his hair bristling with cold, the thin t-shirt he had been given was not enough to protect him from the coolness of the building, and Yuri left the room to follow the young man's scent, completely overwhelmed by his primal instincts which seemed to take advantage of the fact that his human part was entirely focused on his conversation to direct his body.

\- Ok, we'll try to come and get you as soon as possible, I'll let Eva know as soon as I finish watching the little ones.

\- How is the Clan?

He heard Stanislas sighing on the other side of the wire, the reaction of the former Garou only increasing his anxiety. Were the little ones well? Did Nadia have any difficulties during the delivery? Had the poachers returned?

\- They were fine. Vassili disappeared a week ago, we tried to trace her but she disappeared near the town of Zyrianka, so Eva is leading the Clan while waiting for her return.

Stanislas stopped for a moment to growl at Aaron and Mikhail who were playing a few meters away, and from the distant rumblings that came to him, the two kittens were playing in their tiger form, probably a little too violently for the taste of the old tiger.

\- Sorry for the interruption, they were about to wake Nadia with the noise they were making. She gave birth a few days ago, you should see the kittens, they are adorable!

Yuri can easily imagine it, he remembers Mikhail when he was born as well as many other newborn kittens he had seen during his life, and a purr escaped him as the smell of Akihito was getting stronger and stronger.

\- Petrel is not with her?

\- Petrel went hunting for her. I'm watching over the little ones, in case the hunters have the idea to come here. They are all safe at the Foyer, aren't they?

\- There's a shelter in the cellar, a big room where the Clan can take refuge, take Nadia and the little ones there if you see the hunters and warn Eva, she will know what to do.

The Foyer was the Clan's shelter, the only place that linked them to civilization for miles around, the only luxury they had allowed themselves. A loud noise was heard at the other end of the line.

\- I must leave you, your nephew and your protégé are starting their nonsense again. Keep us informed.

Yuri grunted his approval and hung up as he arrived near the corridor where Akihito was, and wrinkled his nose when he smelled the smell of Ai mingling with the young man. Couldn't she hold on to another person and leave them alone for a moment? Especially since he could now smell a slight trace of acidic anxiety in the young man's perfume, almost masked by the pheromones of happiness.

\- Dinner is still on tonight?

He remains hidden behind the white concrete wall, listening attentively to the couple a few meters away, trying to ignore as best he can the pain in his chest that was tapping him. He was not supposed to seek the presence of the Human with such force, he had to devote his attention and strength to leave the place and find his Clan, but his feet refused to move and his heart beat with rage and excitement in reaction to the presence of the young man near him, the animal purring with satisfaction.

\- Of course! I'll go see if Yuri woke up before.

The Nahual dared to glance down the corridor to see Ai kissing Akihito on the lips, the latter starting to blush furiously, visibly surprised, and watched distractedly as the young woman walked away, dipping his hand in his blond hair to soothe his discomfort.

Yuri watched the young man sigh and felt the loneliness and fear of the Human coming back in force, deeply disturbing the Shifter who couldn't help but approach him, startled Akihito who placed a hand on his chest, his eyes wide open with the fear he had caused.

\- Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you.

His Japanese is rusty but good enough for the young man to relax and smile at him as he opened the door of the studio that the Center had probably offered to the team so that they could be there without having to rent hotel rooms.

\- That's okay. Do you work here?

The man nodded, forcing himself to detach his gaze from the Human, his heart beating uncontrollably against his ribs and his body almost trembling with excitement.

\- Cool. Say, are you aware that Asami Ryuichi, the director of Ueno Zoo, came here?

So the Garou was the reason for the young Human's fear. Yuri felt the rage bubbling inside him like a wild beast, his human and animal parts for once agreeing on a subject that concerned the Japanese.

\- We didn't know about it. I will notify the staff. Did he do something to you?

He could barely contain the anger in his voice, his eyes noticing the fear and uneasiness burning in the azure eyes, the fists of the man compulsively clenching while his mind was entirely turned to ideas of painful deaths for the Garou. He wanted to hug the Human and tell him that he would not let Asami hurt him.

Akihito looked around them before entering his studio, inviting him with a simple wave of his hand to follow him inside, the cramped size of the studio reminding him of the boxes in the zoo: a main room containing a bed with a small kitchen and a table as well as a closet and a small adjoining bathroom. Yet the young man didn't seem uncomfortable in this narrow space, moving with ease to make them coffee and quickly put away the clothes that were already lying on the floor and the bed, his cheeks red and the way he avoided his look indicating that he was embarrassed to welcome him into such a mess.

But Yuri wouldn't complain, he could smell the boy's scent and see him relaxed now that they were safe in the studio, reassuring him and soothing his rage.

\- He's just...kind of weird. I've researched him and I'm pretty sure he's a yakuza. And he's interested in me, I think.

Akihito let out a nervous laugh and Yuri couldn't help but let his gaze wander over the thin and lean body of the Human, a soft fire lighting up in the lower part of his belly which was quickly followed by the memories of his mating with the tigress, reviving the fire in his belly even more.

\- Since I met him, I noticed that men were following me from afar and I crossed him a little too often for a businessman who is, according to the staff, never present at the zoo.

The young man turned around to offer him a cup of coffee, which Yuri gratefully accepted before sitting down on one of the chairs, forcing his mind to refocus on a more urgent situation.

\- I understand your fears. If you want, I can make rounds in the corner to make sure you are not bothered.

Words come out of his mouth without him having the time to think about it or think about it, the imperative need to protect the little Human of the Garou taking precedence again over the rest. But his boldness is rewarded by a luminous smile of gratitude and the blue orbs finally regain their usual assurance and tranquility.

\- Thank you very much for your proposal but I cannot accept that you do the same for me. But I will gladly accept that you come and see me when you have the opportunity, it would reassure me.

The Nahual must have retained a proud purr of pride for the boy and himself, happy to be able to reassure him and see that he overcame his fear easily, swallowing a sip of the burning and bitter liquid as the young man looked at him with a slight uncertainty, wondering if he would accept his proposal.

\- I would be delighted. What is your name?

\- Akihito. What's yours?

The Human reached out his hand and the contact with his electrified Yuri, who for a moment had the vision of his hand grasping the boy's delicate wrist to draw him to himself and allow his hands to see if the creamy skin was as soft on the rest of his body as it was on his hands.

\- Yuri.

New joyful smile and eyes that sparkle with amusement at the strange coincidence that their owner points out in a light laugh and Yuri has to hold back so as not to press his lips against his and slip his tongue into his mouth to caress his white teeth and tease that tongue as impetuous as its owner.

\- I have to take a shower now, I sincerely wish you a good day and hope to see you soon.

Yuri heard himself mocking something in response and finished his coffee before thanking the Human and going out into the hallway to return to his cage, tormented by the un-Catholic visions that his traitor brain imagined. He could no longer deny what he felt for the Japanese, and his chest became heavier and more painful in spite of the joy of his animal part, terribly aware of the perilous situation in which he was letting himself be embarked and into which he risked dragging the young Human in spite of himself.


	2. Frustration and egoism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, sorry for the long wait ^^
> 
> I haven't yet made the changes to the first chapters and I'm afraid I don't have time with the exams coming up.
> 
> I will make an announcement on Deadly Sins when it will be done with the chapters concerned ^^
> 
> I hope you are well and have a good reading ^^

\- Hello Uncle! How are you doing? Where are you?

Yuri smiles softly when he hears Mikhail's voice on the phone, happy to finally have news of the two kittens he was taking care of, the high-pitched and enthusiastic cries of the young tiger not managing to dampen his joy - unlike his ears.

\- I'm fine, Mikhail. For the moment, I'm in a center for tigers but I'm going to return to the Clan soon. Can you put me through to Aaron?

\- Sorry uncle, Aaron went hunting with Petrel.

Yuri hummed in response, ignoring the disappointment that pinched his chest, and leaned against the now familiar corridor wall, his eyes closing as he breathed in the scent of the blond-haired Human, the beast and the Human vibrating with satisfaction as the memories of the few moments he had spent with the latter in his human form returned to his mind.

\- Why were you calling?

The Nahual reopened his eyes, at the same time dissipating his daydreams and refocusing on his conversation.

-To get news. How are you doing?

\- It's okay, we've been confined to the home since you've been gone, it's getting boring, and Aaron is always pouting.

Yuri held back a laugh as he imagined Aaron making his usual sulky face when he couldn't get what he wanted, his facial scar probably giving him a funny look, and played distractedly with the laces of his shoes. His little protégé had the temperament of a small chief, which often collided with Mikhail's, who did not like to take orders or obey. And Yuri often had to act as an intermediary between the kittens so that they could play together without arguing.

\- I will be back as soon as possible. I'm working on it with Eva. Vassili is still not back yet I suppose?

His nephew replied negatively and the Shifter sighed, the anxiety starting to oppress his chest again. Where could his brother have disappeared to? Aleksandr, Kazimir and Petrel had combed a perimeter of several hundred kilometers, with no results. And the poachers were still there, still looking for the presence of the tiger group in the thick snowy forests of the north.

Yuri had never had such a strong desire to be among his own, the urge to be there to protect the kittens, and chase away those damn poachers itching him as if his whole body was infested with fleas.

_But you are here for the moment and Eva knows how to take care of the group._

Yes, but the clan was composed of weak warriors who only knew how to hunt and would not dare to fight against men armed with guns. Yuri was one of the few who fought against hunters and poachers entering their territory, driven by his instincts to hunt pests that could harm his people. Vassili should have accepted that he trained these big cats who appeared almost all day long.

\- You and Aaron listen to the adults, okay? And you stay in the home in your human form. If the poachers come here, they might see you.

The young Shifter grumbled his chord, probably disappointed to have to remain in his human form, so fragile and weak in their hostile environment, and Yuri heard Mikhail move and close a door before hearing him whispering in a low voice after a few seconds.

\- What's it like in the center? I heard you talking about a Human last time.

Yuri snapped his tongue, displeased to learn that his nephew had listened to his conversations with Eva and growled in response, slowly straightening up to stretch his aching muscles from staying in the paddock without being able to hunt.

\- These kinds of stories are none of your business, Mikhail.

He doesn't want his nephew to mind his own business. He had discussed this with Eva because the Nahual was very wise and because he had hoped that she would give him one of her wise counsels. Unfortunately, the Shifter had not been able to help him, only advising him not to go beyond friendly discussions, that in any case, he would soon leave and would not have to worry about these troublesome and dangerous feelings, as much for him as for Akihito. And Yuri didn't want to put the young man in danger and risk his death because of the feelings he was having.

\- Can I give you some advice?

\- I don't see what a 12 year old kitten like you could teach a 500 year old Shifter like me.

His nephew's enthusiasm was not marred by his sarcastic remark - unless he was masking it - and the young boy blew so low that Yuri found it hard to hear what he was saying.

\- If you really love him, you should follow your heart.

\- If I do, I put it at risk.

-So you'd rather give up and leave with your tail between your legs? You prefer to let other people decide for you who you have the right to love?

\- Yes.

The words left a bitter taste in his mouth and a weight settled in his chest, as if he needed to say it out loud so that the beast in him, the essence of his instincts and desires, would finally accept this reality: Akihito would never be his companion. He was a Human and he was a Shifter, and the passive between their two races was too obscure and bloody for the Council to tolerate a rapprochement between them.

A shiver ran through him as a terrible feeling of injustice burned his chest. If he decided to seduce Akihito, even without revealing his Shifter nature, they would both be punished if it was discovered. He for breaking the rules, Akihito because he was a member of the species that had massacred his people during the Middle Ages, during their witch-hunting and Inquisition delusions. He would pay for all the lives his ancestors had taken, quite simply.

\- There are many things you still don't know, Mikhail. When you're my age, you may be able to allow yourself to judge my choices. Until then...

He got up to walk to the guest wing, where Akihito was probably to be, with an inexplicable feeling of uneasiness pressing down on his chest.

\- Enjoy your kitten life and don't worry about these things until you're in love yourself. Go see if Nadia doesn't need anything.

\- Okay. See you uncle.

\- See you soon Misha.

He hung up in a slight sigh, relieved to have managed to dodge the myriad of questions his nephew was able to ask and fervently proclaim vindictive speeches. For now, only the sticky stench of fear and anguish he was beginning to smell worried him. Then he smelled them, those smells masked by the smell of fear that made his hair stand on end and made his heart stop beating for a moment. The smell of Akihito. The smell of Asami. The smell of blood, satisfaction and sex.

Yuri felt his heart stop beating at this discovery and, in an instant, the rage and anguish running through his body like adrenaline, and the man saw himself running in the corridors too white and too long, Akihito's cries getting stronger with the rhythm of his strides.

Then he slowed down when he finally arrived near the small studio where the young Human was staying, the apprehension of what he was about to discover turning his stomach and making him want to run away. No. Akihito was in distress. He could not run away. He had to be there for him.

Yuri took a deep breath, hoping that this would give him enough courage to support and help the young man, and slipped into the room, the mere fact of noticing that the door was ajar was enough to make him even more uncomfortable. He found Akihito curled up on the floor, his naked body covered with violent sobs, his clothes torn and thrown into a corner of the room, the bed bearing the marks of a violent struggle just like the body of the young Human.

\- Akihito...

Yuri half-closed the door behind him, not wanting anyone to see him in this state and not closing it so that Akihito wouldn't feel oppressed, and knelt down beside him, timidly putting a hand on his shoulder, feeling lost in what he was supposed to do, the fear of doing more fear and harm to the Human almost paralyzing him.

The latter shuddered at his touch, cowering and moaning before opening a fearful eye drowned by tears and whispering between two sobs that complicated his disjointed and vague explanations.

\- He was there...Fought...Raped me...I'm sorry....

Yuri gently placed his hand on the young man's hair, gently caressing it in a probably futile attempt to soothe, his eyes not daring to leave the Human's for fear of seeing the state of his body.

\- You don't have to apologize, Akihito. It's not your fault. He's the guilty one, you don't have to be ashamed.

His throat tightened at these words, finding himself unable to explain the thousands of reasons why Akihito had no reason to blame himself, and he ended up just whispering softly, his human part deciding to act rather than stay there as his animal part would like.

\- Let's get you cleaned up, okay? I'll take care of the rest.

The young man nodded slowly and breathed in pain as the Nahual helped him to his feet, the smell of blood and semen burning his nose like acid, and Yuri carefully wrapped one arm around the Japanese man's slender waist to allow him to lean on it with all his weight as he guided him into the tiny bathroom, almost too narrow for the two of them.

\- Do you feel able to sit down?

\- I believe...

The sobs of the Human had dried up but his hoarse and weak voice and his eyes plunged in the wave broke the heart of the Shifter who gently passed a hand through the hair color of the winter dawn before blowing with the tenderness that he usually reserved for the two kittens when they were injured:

\- Do you want me to leave?

\- Stay. He might come back.

Yuri slowly nodded his head and grabbed the shower head to run hot water over the Human's back, all his fear and anger gone to give way to concentration and preoccupation, and took a washcloth to gently rub his back, his eyes resting for the first time on the bruises and scratch and bite marks that marked his body, his brain already beginning to assess their severity.

He felt the Japanese slowly relax under his touch, even closing his eyes when, after cleaning his wounds, he slowly washed his hair, removing the dried blood that stained it, his fingers skillfully avoiding the open wound on his temple as he pushed the wild locks back, enjoying their wet texture.

\- I will bring you something to wear. I will change the sheets and get you something to take care of you. Will that be all right?

Akihito turned towards him, his eyes now like a sky drowned in a mist of opal and red lightning staring at him with such fear that Yuri was angry for a moment for having dared to express the idea of leaving him alone.

\- I'm only gone five minutes, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can and I promise I won't let Asami get any closer to you.

Yuri felt his tone becoming much more aggressive, again enraged at the thought of Asami and what had just happened. Strangely, his aggressiveness seemed to reassure Akihito who relaxed and whispered as he looked down.

\- Okay. Come back soon.

The Shifter smiled gently at the young man and kissed him on the forehead before whispering :

\- I'm only gone for a couple of minutes.

He was so eager to hug him, cover him with kisses and slaughter Asami with his own hands. But for now, he had more urgent things to do. The Nahual came out of the bathroom to undo the sheets of Akihito's bed, his nose puckering at the foul smells that permeated them, and cautiously walked out of the room, his senses watching for the slightest sign that might indicate a potential return of the Garou. But nothing. The smell of the Shifter was already spreading and, apart from his footsteps in the hallway, he heard nothing.

The laundry room where the spare sheets and washing machines were kept was two corridors away from Akihito's room. He and the Japanese man had spent a few hours in this room, Akihito discussing everything and nothing while ironing his clothes and he just listened to him talk, sometimes letting a few sentences slip out for the young man to continue bantering. He felt like it was from another life.

This may be the case.

The Nahual violently opened the window of the washing machine and forcefully threw the sheets through it, furious at the thought that Asami had perhaps broken the young man, that the latter would never smile or laugh again but would carry for the rest of his life that look full of sorrow and torment.

And Akihito won't even be able to file a complaint. Asami will cover it up and the Council will find out, sooner or later, and Yuri didn't want to know what would happen to the Human - the Council was always quick to punish the Humans as they punished the so-called Witches during the Inquisition -.

For the first time in a long time, its human and animal parts were torn apart. His human part urged him not to interfere too much in this story even if it revolted him, to help the young man recover and leave as planned before things got even worse and his Clan was exterminated by the damn poachers. His animal part wanted to destroy the Garou, to find him and make him suffer what he had done to the Japanese, to stay with the latter for eternity, to send the Council to hell.

Yuri shook his head, annoyed by this duality, and tried to ignore his two parts for the moment. He had to concentrate on Akihito, he would see about the rest afterwards. The Nahual took new sheets from the shelves and returned to the studio to see that Akihito had dressed up and sat down on a chair, staring completely blankly.

\- I will take care of your injuries and then I will take care of the bed.

He avoided the dried traces of blood on the floor, thought for a moment that he should clean that up too, and threw the sheets on the bed before bending over to Akihito to inspect the wound at his temple.

\- Do you want to go press charges?

He speaks softly, kneels down in front of him and puts his hands on the knees of the young man who finally put his misty eyes in his own.

\- It would be useless. Asami is a yakuza and has contacts in politics and the police. Apart from making my life a living hell, I don't see why I would file a complain.

Yuri nodded, relieved that the young man realized that this would only bring him trouble - even though the animal in him raged at the thought that justice would not be done - and took one of the young man's hands to put a kiss on the back of his hand and whispered, not averting his eyes from those of the shaken Human.

\- I promise you that these acts will catch up with him.

He will take care of it personally. He won't let the Werewolf get away with it. Their species also had a concept of divine justice, the equivalent of Hindu karma without reincarnations and long before Humans invented this concept - at that time, Yuri was sure that Humans still lived in small nomadic tribes and made houses out of wood, stones and skins. They called it Ghafa. The Right Act.

Akihito looked at him confusedly, and Yuri didn't know if it was because of the words he had just said or his gesture, but he was content with a slight nod, still lost in the mists of the shock he had just suffered.

The Nahual remained silent as he nursed the Japanese man's wounds, his animal part trembling with joy at being able to take care of the little Human, the waves of tenderness passing through him with such force that Yuri had to hold him in his arms and hug him several times, painfully aware that the young man would push him away, and hastened to make the bed to try to calm his impulses.

\- He was terrifying.

Yuri turned his head towards Akihito when he began to speak, the milky mist that covered his pale eyes like a thin film seemed to finally begin to dissipate.

\- It looked like a wild beast... I was coming back from a jog, I noticed that I had forgotten to close the door... He was waiting for me.

The sad eyes of the young man landed on the second chair of the table, and Yuri felt his hair stand up as he imagined the scene, and his fists clenched in rage as the comforter crumpled under his fingers.

\- Why?

The young man's voice broke again and he burst again into jerky and heart-rending sobs, putting Yuri, who could no longer hold back, to death. He felt his whole body move to draw the thin and fragile body against his own and felt his arms wrap around him and squeeze him, remembering in time not to put all his strength into it if he didn't want to crush the fragile human.

He felt Akihito burying his face against his chest, his hands closing like claws on his T-shirt, his face deformed by a suffering as physical as psychological, and Yuri began to make light rocking movements, pressing his chin against the young man's head and rubbing a hand against his back, wishing he could take his tiger shape to warm him and be able to purr to soothe him.

\- I don't know Akihito. Maybe he wanted you and when he realized that you wouldn't let him slip into bed, he decided to force it. He's the kind of person who's used to having it all and can't stand being resisted. But you had nothing to do with it and you have nothing to blame yourself for, okay?

Slowly, he directed him to the bed, and Akihito let him do so, curling into a ball against him as he lay them on the mattress, and Yuri quickly took off their shoes before taking the comforter to cover the young Human and allow him to warm up and feel sheltered, his protective instincts choking him violently, reminding him of those he had felt when he had found Aaron.

The old man closed his eyes, rubbing slow, soothing circles on the young man's back to reassure him, holding back the slight smile that threatened to blossom on his lips at the thought of Aaron.

_The winter had been particularly harsh that year. So much so that Yuri had been forced to hunt far beyond the limits of his territory, even entering the territory of a rival clan whose borders had not been marked for a long time. Perhaps the harshness of the winter had forced them to move south-eastwards to warmer and more temperate climates?_

_That's what he had thought at the time, being no more suspicious than a Clan that had always been jealously territorial, decided to abandon his place of life. But he had felt a certain uneasiness that had intensified with time, until his feline ears perceived the high-pitched cries of a kitten, and the fat laughter of Humans. He had galloped to the source of the cries, the smell of blood, gunpowder and dead bodies allowing him to imagine what had just happened. He was enraged, not caring whether he was discreet or not, but the Humans, too caught up in their attempts to take a picture of a blood dripping baby tiger, did not notice him._

_He threw himself on them, mouth wide open and claws out. His first gesture was to rip the throat out of the one holding the kitten, his body cowering as best it could around the little tiger in the hope of keeping it between his body and that of the monster. The man uttered a gurgling sound, probably surprised, and his head made a muffled crack when it reached the ground. He was dead. And the kitten did not dare to move in terror. Yuri was careful not to jostle the young Nahual when he turned around to attack the second one who was already running towards the van where they had left their weapons and the corpse of the boy's mother. What did he expect?_

_The Nahual didn't need to take more than three strides as his muscles were already straining to lift him. He landed on the man's back, pressing him heavily against the floor of the van's trunk, probably breaking a few ribs, his front legs clinging to the floor and his hind legs to the ground, and roared before sticking his fangs into the man's neck and shaking his head in rage, the poacher's screams accompanying his every move._

_A thud was heard and Yuri roared when a flash of pain went through his shoulder. Had one of the humans just shot him? He turned around, the chemical adrenaline flowing through his veins like a tumultuous river allowing him to ignore the pain that was horribly gripping him, and a loud roar rose from his chest when he saw the survivor with a gun pointed at him, his hands trembling with fear and his eyes frozen with hatred._

_-You're going to die here, you bastard!_

_Yuri was content to utter a low, low rumble in response, raising his chops to reveal fangs gleaming with blood and saliva. He didn't intend to die. Not now, nor in the centuries to come. Especially not when the kitten's future depended on him._

_The Human rearms his gun, Yuri flexes his muscles, thinking quickly about what he might do to dodge the next bullet. Not sure if it would kill him, but Yuri was away from the Clan and he wasn't sure if these morons had a first aid kit with them._

_He began to slowly retreat, pretending to flee into the undergrowth of the clearing before huddling behind rocks, making sure he was in a place where he could observe the kitten and the Human waiting for the moment to act, his heart beating with the strength of a mad horse in his chest._

_They had to stay that way for a long time, Yuri licking his wound while watching from time to time what the human was doing. He stayed on the lookout for a few minutes before he sighed and lowered his rifle, his breath as shaky as his limbs. Then he finally made his way to the van where he took out a shovel and began to dig into the ground, whispering a series of insults, his hands so shaky that Yuri wondered for a moment how he managed to keep the earth on his shovel. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the tiny Nahual crawl slowly over the ground and start making small, plaintive cries, probably looking for his mother and her comfort._

_\- Shut the fuck up! Given your condition you're better as a rug than as a pet!_

_Yuri stood up slowly, stretching his cold limbs before limping silently in the back of the man who approached the moaning kitten with the shovel in his hand. The Nahual clamored, the Nahual got as close as he could to the Human, fearing that he would miss his jump because of his injured leg, and the Nahual pulled out his claws at the moment the poacher raised the shovel above his head. Yuri took a huge leap to bite the man's thigh, closing his jaws tightly before turning his head to bring the Human down, and ripping off much of his pants and pulpit, and a muffled howl from the monster who collapsed to the ground, the shovel landing a few yards away, and the Nahual lost his balance when his injured paw dropped him. Breathless from the physical exertion, Yuri struggled to stand up, growling as the pain sheared his shoulder, and approached the man with a heavy limp, his rage giving way to a thoughtful and placid calm. The man tried to crawl away towards the shovel, but Yuri stopped him by sticking his claws into the injured leg, and brought him back to him under the sobs of the Human who wiggled to try to turn around._

_\- Please!_

_The poacher protected his face with his arms, which almost made Yuri laugh. Did he really think that would be enough to stop him? The strength of his jaws far exceeded that of a normal Siberian tiger. He would be happy to show it to him._

_His teeth pierced the arms of the scum under him, his teeth piercing without difficulty the muscles and bones that broke under the pressure, wrenching a scream of agony from his victim who, when he released his arms, found himself unable to defend his face and looked at him with eyes wide open in horror. Yuri purred with contentment, appreciating the terror it inspired in the one who had probably eliminated part of the pack living here._

_His jaws closed on the scum's arms beneath him, his teeth piercing easily through the muscles and bones that broke under the pressure, wrenching a scream of agony from his victim who, when he released his arms, found himself unable to defend his face and looked at him with wide-open eyes of horror. Yuri purred with contentment, appreciating the terror it inspired in the one who had probably eliminated part of the pack living here. And his jaws snapped one last time as the murderer's screams echoed through his mouth._

He had brought Aaron back to the camp after burying the body of the Nahual, and Eva had agreed to breastfeed him in secret, as Vladimir refused to let his companion waste the milk Mikhail needed so much. Yuri had acted in a parenting manner he had not expected. He had kept the scarred kitten against his belly, had licked it to warm it and soak up its smell, cleaned and comforted it, had pre-chewed tender meat to try to feed the kitten despite the fact that he should not eat it yet. He had not reacted to the sensation of the little canines sticking around his nipples and pulling on them to try to get milk that would never come, nor to the sensation of the tiny paws kneading his belly to try to stimulate his milk, nor to the cries of hunger to which Vladimir had remained deaf, unaware that his companion was feeding the baby his milk when everyone was asleep.

His thoughts went out of his head when he felt Akihito move against him, his bloodshot, blue, washed-out eyes watching his face attentively before he murmured in a hoarse, exhaustion-broken voice.

-Thank you very much Yuri. For everything you've done...

-It is nothing.

Akihito opened his mouth to ask him something but closed it almost immediately, his eyes shining as if he was blaming himself for a stupid idea, and Yuri blew, spreading his arms away from the young man to press his elbow against the mattress and his head against his hand.

-You can ask me what you want you know.

His hand itched to caress the cheek of the young Human who just whispered, looking a little embarrassed.

-I would like you to stay. But I understand that you have to work...

Yuri would have liked to stay with the young man, holding him in his arms as long as it took for him to feel good again. But the film crew would probably come soon and Nahual couldn't risk screwing up his potential reintroduction into the wild.

\- Tonight. I could come.

He had access to the outside enclosure, the staff of the center never came to check if he was there. They only entered it when the film crew had to go in.

\- Stay with the film crew the rest of the day, okay?

Akihito nodded slowly and Yuri whispered softly a "I'll be there at 9pm" before carefully leaving the bed, his animal part tearing him apart by his need to stay with the Human, not to leave him alone, his human part trying to keep control.

Yuri had never felt so torn in his life. His life in Siberia often brought his two parts together, so he had rarely had the opportunity to experience this painful situation. But since he had been there... he had never felt both so apart and strangely homogenous at the same time.

He put his shoes back on and walked out in silence, taking one last look at the young man as he prepared to work, acidic fragnances of his nervousness reaching him weakly. Tonight. Tonight he would watch over him. And if Asami dared to point his stinking Garou's mouth again, Yuri would slaughter him as he had done with the poachers. He would be the armed arm of the Ghafa.

\- Hey Akihito, how are you?

The young man blinked his eyes and left the huge tiger's gaze to notice that Ai was staring at him worriedly, his thin arms crossed against his chest, his mouth pinched in a questioning pout, the other members of the group watching them from afar, almost glued together to fight against the ambient cold.

\- Yeah, I'm okay.

He doesn't try to reassure her, tell her that he fell in the bathtub or tripped. He doesn't have the courage or strength to tell honeyed lies or give false smiles. His whole body hurts and his wounds burn and sting, constantly reminding him of the long minutes of terror and anguish when the man had pressed him against the mattress with such force and raped him so violently that he thought he was going to die, whether because of the hemorrhage he thought he was going to end up with or because of the incredibly heavy weight that was crushing him.

With tears in his eyes, Akihito turned away, lowering his head, not wanting others to see him in this state, and sat against the fence that separated him from Yuri the Tiger, and held back a grimace as the pain of his injured rectum passed through him. He felt dirty. Broken. Filled with an emptiness he never thought he would be able to feel, as if he would never be able to feel a positive feeling or smile again. Even the pearly gray sky of this noon pierced by diffuse pale sunlight, the songs of the birds on top of the naked trees and the beauty of the wild animals in the pens were not even enough to make him want to take pictures.

The sensation of a large nose pressed against his back in spite of the wire fence brought him out of his trance and Akihito forced himself to articulate a faint, painful smile before turning to the tiger and placing his hand against the fence, the golden eyes of the tiger looking at him so gently that the Japanese felt a warm wave bursting in his chest.

\- Hi there. How are you doing today?

The nose of the beast pressed gently against his hand and Akihito caressed the giant's muzzle with his fingertips, remaining careful in case the animal was aggressive.

\- You feel that I'm not feeling well, right?

The tiger blinked and Akihito pressed his face against the fence before whispering.

-I don't understand why my employers insist on continuing to film you when there's not much left to do. You sleep all day long in the sun and you are released from time to time with the other tigers to see how sociable you are. It's the only interesting moment of the day.

The tiger wagged its tail in response and Akihito stopped smiling, feeling exhausted from the effort.

\- I feel like I'm dead. Maybe that's what death is: not being able to feel anything. To be empty.

Yuri purred softly and began to rub his head against his palm, as if to try to comfort him, a low, deep purr escaping from the animal's powerful chest, reminding him of how Yuri the human could laugh and talk, low and soft, like the purr of the wild beast rubbing against him.

Thinking of Yuri made Akihito sigh, and he closed his eyes, not realizing the smile blooming on his face, whose cheeks blushed even more despite the cold air burning his throat and turning his breath into white clouds vaporizing in the air.

\- Akihito.

The young man opened his eyes when Ai approached him, wrapped in her thick faux-fur coat, her pale hair reflecting the sun's rays almost blindingly, and watched her sit beside him, the young woman's light eyes looking suspiciously less than a meter away, turning her back on them with her ears lying back.

\- He likes you, it seems.

\- I have the same impression. I hear they plan to release him in a month.

He would miss the tiger, his presence comforted him and he always felt as if the animal was listening to him. Or perhaps it was that understanding and abnormal intelligence that shone in his eyes of liquid gold that gave him that impression?

He would also miss the human Yuri. He would like to be able to keep in touch with him. Especially after what had happened.

\- Are you sure there's nothing?

\- Sure, Ai. I am fine.

He doesn't want to see pity in his eyes, let alone have this story cause a scandal. He does not want to face their judgment and the remarks he would probably receive. He wants this story to remain secret, like those confessions that are written on a piece of paper and burned to ashes. He's ashamed that he didn't do more to prevent this. He should have fought harder. Maybe hit him in the genitals or try to take his eyes out.

\- Would you tell me if it concerned us?

Akihito blinked, not sure he understood what Ai meant, and the girl added more softly, bending her head towards him:

\- Remember, we talked about doing it, now that we're together.

Ah yes. Akihito suddenly felt uncomfortable, the sensation of his hand on his burning as if he had put his hand into a hotplate, and he moved backwards when Ai brought his face so close that their lips almost touched, his heart missing a beat as he suddenly felt sick.

\- I haven't forgotten. Right now I just need to breathe.

He slowly straightened up, rubbing his pants by the grass still wet from the morning frost, and joined the rest of the film crew who were waving at them, eager to follow the staff who were about to release the tiger with the others. The memories continued to torment him every time he closed his eyes, the memory of golden eyes darkened by a dark, manic obsession that sent him into uncontrolled shivers.

Yuri waited in his outdoor enclosure, his golden eyes staring intently at the starry, cloudy sky to find familiar constellations, his tail gently swaying behind him, reminiscent of the ticking of a clock. Staff members had given him his meal half an hour earlier, whispering among themselves that it was surprising that there was never any tension between him and the other tigers, given their solitary lifestyle, and the Nahual was reluctant to go out, fearing that he might run into any staff members who would be working late at night.

But he had promised Akihito to be there for him and the Shifter feared a return of the Garou. The Nahual growled, groaning slightly under the snow, which was beginning to fall slowly and wet his spiky fur, before making up his mind. He stood up, stretched his muscles numb from the cold and stillness, and snorting when he arrived at the inner enclosure where he took on human form.

But he had promised Akihito to be there for him and the Shifter feared a return of the Garou. The Nahual growled, groaning slightly under the snow, which was beginning to fall slowly and wet his spiky fur, before making up his mind. He stood up, stretched his muscles numb from the cold and stillness, and snorting when he arrived at the inner enclosure where he took human form and went to retrieve his clothes from the room and glanced at the phone that told him he had received a message, a smirk blooming on his lips as he read it.

The blind darkness of the place meant nothing to his fawn eyes and his sharp sense of smell, so he had no trouble finding Akihito's room, and he felt reassured not to smell the scent of the opposing Shifter, his heart beating with excitement at the thought of finding the young man, and a nervousness he had hardly ever felt before.

His two parts had fallen silent, once again united by this strange need to be at the side of the Human, no longer caring about the potential consequences in their selfish desire, almost making him feel like a normal Human could feel.

He saw himself knocking at the door and nervously blowing his name, anxiously waiting for the Japanese man to open the door for him, which he did a few seconds later with a shy smile and eyes already much more familiar that bewitched the Nahual.

\- Thank you for coming.

Yuri nodded his head, fearing that he would stammer if he spoke, and slipped inside the tiny studio, being careful to keep some space with the young man who sat on the edge of his bed before blowing, his hands clasped tightly together, the bracelets on his wrists swinging gently to his nervous gestures.

\- Have you...ever eaten? Do you want something to drink maybe?

Akihito had changed his clothes apparently. Yuri couldn't help but notice the amplitude of the t-shirt that masked his slim athletic figure, as if the young man was trying to hide under his clothes for fear that his body would cause him more trouble.

Yuri was pained by this observation, and responded with a negative nod before sitting down next to the Human, his eyes watching his chest rise and fall gently, a whiff of nervousness coming back to tickle his nostrils rather quickly. Embarrassed that he had probably put the Japanese at ease, Yuri looked away, certain that his cheeks were going to burn him, and leaned his arms on his knees, and was surprised when Akihito declared after a few long seconds of silence:

\- I see it every time I close my eyes. I can't stand the contact of others: Ai tried to kiss me and wanted to hold my hand, but every time I see him again. And I feel terrible, I can't help it.

Yuri turned his head to see the young man's clear, limpid eyes fill with tears again and his hands tighten against each other to the point that his knuckles turned white. He felt his mouth open, fervently defending the Japanese and reassuring him, but Akihito interrupted him with a simple request, his moist blue eyes sticking into his own, his tired look almost paralyzing him on the spot.

\- Is this.... Will you have sex with me?

Did he hear correctly? Had his brain just gone haywire? Akihito must have asked him something, but certainly not that. The Japanese man nervously ran a hand through his hair, letting out a slight, tense laugh, the metal parts of his leather bracelets reflecting the almost too bright light from the studio.

\- Forget it, it's stupid... I just want to erase these images, replace them with something positive. And I thought...maybe... But it's a stupid idea, it was stupid, sorry.

Yuri felt his heart leaping in his chest, his animal part roaring with joy, with such strength that the Nahual felt for a moment as if he was going to throw himself on the young man to hug him and cover him with kisses while purring. But his reason told him that it was wrong to accept. Akihito needed to see a specialist, not sleep with someone else, to remind his brain that sex wasn't just something painful, that it probably wouldn't even work.

\- Are you sure of what you want?

His words slipped out of his lips before he even had time to think about it, surprising him as much as Akihito who turned to him and whispered, his eyes the color of the morning winter sky oscillating between surprise and an almost childish shyness.

\- Yes.

Akihito's smell changed, the smell of excitement mixed with nervousness and his instincts took over, suffocating his reason deep inside him, and Yuri saw himself slowly leaning towards the Human who took a trembling breath before closing his eyes and slipping a hand through his pale hair to draw him towards himself.

The Nahual closed his eyes when his lips finally pressed against the young man's, a purr escaping him as he felt their softness and the Japanese man's body pressing against his own, igniting his lower abdomen with excitement and turning his head in anticipation.

\- Do you have any lube?

He whispered against the young man's lips, his heart beating wildly in his chest, and Akihito nodded and pointed to the bathroom with his head, his cheeks turning a light red and his eyes darkening with an uncertain desire.

Yuri walked away into the bathroom, the smell of the young man's excitement and anxiety overwhelmed him so much that he was sure he could see her, and retrieved the bottle, probably bought for a special occasion with Ai at the base.

Akihito deserved to be with Ai. She was a sweet and kind woman who could help him get over this rape story once he was gone. And she was Human. He would go back to his Clan and keep the memory of the Human in his mind.

A strange feeling germinated in his chest, oppressing him to the point of almost taking his breath away, and at the same time making his heart beat harder. It was the best thing for him, for them. Akihito would be happy, even if it wasn't with him, and that was the most important thing. He would have memories of golden hair like a pale dawn, blue eyes like the skies of a foggy and early morning winter, a pearly and sweet smile, joyful laughter and the sacred night that Akihito offered him, where he could express his love to him in the most intimate act of his life.

When he returned, Akihito gave him a startled and nervous look, as if surprised by something coming from him, and Yuri threw the bottle on the bed, a wave of love suddenly inflated his chest with such force that the Shifter couldn't help himself. He took his hands to stand up, taking the young man's thin face in his hands so that he could contemplate it, drowning in the infinite, calm immensity of his eyes, memorizing each of his features as if his life depended on it.

Akihito watched him do it, a dazed glow shining in his eyes with that of the trouble, and Yuri smiled when he felt him relax at last.

\- Я люблю тебя.

He bent over to slowly kiss the young man's lips, who closed his eyes in response, timidly placing his hands on his broad, muscular shoulders, the smell of his excitement and desire starting to tease his Shifter instincts again. And he moved the Human's hands away so he could take off his shirt, deciding to take the first steps to reassure the young man. The latter stared at him for a few seconds, visibly surprised by what he saw and Yuri felt a touch of pride seize him when Akihito put a shy hand on his chest and caressed it thoughtfully, a gleam of envy illuminating his eyes.

The Nahual let him do so, wanting him to feel confident enough to take the next step, which was not long in coming when he finally took off his loose T-shirt slowly, revealing his athletic body marked by the Werewolf, and was surprised when the young Human stood on tiptoes to wrap his arms around his neck and kiss him. Purring softly with surprise and appreciation, Yuri let his hands rest on the Human's hips and licked his lips, receiving in response their opening and the gentle caress of a tongue against his own.

Warm hands reached down to his pants, unbuttoning them clumsily, making Yuri smile as he took off his shoes and casually threw them behind him, their lips pressing together again with more passion this time, the desire inflaming his kidneys with an intensity he had never felt before.

Akihito... He felt like he was on drugs, bewitched by the softness and warmth of his skin, by the scent of the sunny forest, hazelnut and wheat, by the sweet taste of his lips and tongue, by the silky softness of his hair like rays of the rising sun, by the pale and luminous blue of the azure sky...

His lips slowly migrated to Akihito's neck, tenderly kissing the injured areas in the hope of erasing the bad memories, one of his hands undoing the button on his pants as best they could while the other touched his back, making the young man shiver against him and leaning his head to the side to let him do so, a slight gasp escaping from his lips while one of his hands dipped into his hair and rolled his fingers in it.

Slowly, he led them to the bed and had to move away from the young man for a moment to remove the last clothes he had left, before pushing him onto the bed, his lips finding those of the Japanese as his hands migrated gently down to his pants which he slowly pulled off, his tongue tracing a furrow of fire along his belly, where the scent of excitement was strongest. A gasp escaped the young man as his lips followed down the soft line from his hip to his pubis, one of his hands slowly moving up his thigh, sending shivers up his spine.

\- You don't have to....

Yuri smiled lightly against the fair skin of the Human, his eyes planted in the dark ones like a summer twilight sky and widened from the blond, and he went down further, kissing the tender thighs and chewing them lightly, and purring with approval when Akihito bent his legs by reflex, allowing him to have a good view of what interested him most at the moment. Akihito's intimacy was reddened and swollen, clearly manhandled and certainly not in a state for further frolicking.

Slowly, Yuri passed his tongue over it, tearing a surprised gasp from the Human underneath him as he buried his hands in the sheets, and tenderly caressed his pale thighs to relax him, taking care that his saliva moistened all the probably painful area. If the saliva of animals was known to disinfect wounds, the saliva of the Nahuals was known to heal wounds. If on a Nahual the wounds took a long time to heal because of their constitution, it was logical that for a Human that healing would be much faster.

Akihito closed his eyes and groaned softly under the caress of his tongue and Yuri felt himself hardening as he imagined the Japanese man's blushing face in lust, his blond hair spread like a solar crown around his face, and he regretted not being able to take on his animal form, his tiger's tongue being much larger and more agile than his human tongue.

He spent a long time just teasing the young man and making him squirm under his tongue before daring to push his tongue in slightly, pulling out a heavy moan from the young man who stuck his fingers into his hair, pulling it out without realizing it. The Shifter grunted in response and buried his face between the tender thighs of the human, licking more ardently the pleated hole of the young man who shouted with pleasure and bent down, his erect and red sex indicating to Yuri the Japanese man's state of arousal - as if the smell of sex that seemed to fill the whole studio wasn't enough for him.

\- Yuri... Please....

Wait a little longer...You have to wait for it to take effect.

He wrapped one of his hands around his sex to caress it and distract the young man who groaned with well-being and did not protest any more, letting himself be led into a first orgasm that was not long in coming, his name shouted by Akihito being his reward. The hand in his hair slowly released him and Yuri gently hummed his approval as he straightened up to be able to contemplate the vision of the completely debauched Human being enough to make him smile and make his heart jump in his chest. He allowed himself to observe the young man attentively, wanting to engrave every detail in his memory: his body voluptuously stretched out on the crumpled sheets, already shining with sweat, his heavy and panting breath that raised and lowered his chest, his thighs slightly apart and shining with his saliva, his belly speckled with white semen, his lips half-open revealing his perfect white rows of teeth, his blue eyes, now electric blue, widened by lust and need, his red cheeks by the embarrassment of being watched like this, and his wet golden hair spread like rivers of gold on the pillow.

\- Are you all right?

His human part overcame his animal part, and Yuri stood up to crawl on all fours above the young man and kiss him on the forehead, waiting for an answer from his partner before daring to do anything again. Akihito finally nodded his head, and Yuri blew in a low voice, his breath mixing with that of the Human, if he felt ready, and Akihito responded with a weak affirmation, his arms wrapped around his back as if to hold him, making the Nahual purr, who plunged his face into the Japanese man's neck to kiss him, and straightened up to take hold of the bottle of lubricant left at the edge of the bed, and poured a generous dose of it on his sex under the vaguely worried look of Akihito.

He settled back above Akihito, starting to chew and kiss that soft spot on the Human's neck again, which almost immediately melted him between his arms, making him smile with a smile of well-being and distracting him enough for the Shifter to probe his entrance with a finger wet with lubricant and begin to prepare him.

If Akihito felt it, he didn't show it. At least not until Yuri bent his finger to rub the young man's prostate, who opened his mouth in a mute scream and threw his head back while his whole body tensed up in a second orgasm.

\- Shit!

Akihito glanced at him with a dazed look after swearing, almost seeming to silently ask him how one could experience so much pleasure in such a place, and Yuri slowly added a second finger, appreciating the way the young man closed his eyes and gasped, slowly spreading his thighs to give him more space, his hips moving gently to get more feeling.

\- Yuri... Please....

The Shifter added a third finger and bent over to kiss it while purring gently, understanding the Human's need for more, his own painful sex between his legs also demanding attention.

\- Right away Aki.

His mouth burned from not being able to give him any kind of nickname or to soothe him with sweet words, and Yuri felt his animal part in him groaning in frustration, soon choked by his reason which reminded him that there would never be anything between him and Akihito outside of that night.

He finally withdrew his fingers to place his genitals against the Japanese man's pleated hole, which gave rise to an impatient squeak before a long moan of pleasure when he slowly penetrated it, and was surprised when the young man wrapped his legs around his waist and placed his hands on his broad shoulders, the sight of his face in full ecstasy enough to make the Shifter forget his frustrations.

Yuri slowly swung his hips to let him get used to his waist - he felt his insides squeeze almost uncomfortably - and for fear of hurting him with his inhuman strength, not being able to prevent a slight smile from adorning his lips as he listened to the gasps of well-being and saw his face twisting with pleasure. His slow and gentle rhythm seemed to be enough for Akihito who squirmed to curl up against him and stuck his nails in his back, whispering between two groans his name and requests to continue as he was doing.

The Shifter finally turned his gaze away to kiss the jaw of the young Human, gradually accelerating his hip movements as his hand went to the boy's sex to caress him, his eyes closing as the pleasure also electrified him, His senses focused on the velvety warmth that surrounded him and held him deliciously tight, and on the warmth of the body clinging to his with force, lulled by the cries of ecstasy that he ripped out with each stroke, keeping in a corner of his mind to be careful not to hurt him.

Finally, Akihito's breath began to become chopped and his muscles began to tighten spasmodically around him, indicating that he would soon come. And he wouldn't be long either. Yuri wrapped one arm around the little Japanese boy, his other hand continuing to masturbate him before burying his face in the wounded Human's neck, his animal part screaming at him to bite him, to leave his mark on the one who should be his companion, and to bend his head to the side to let him mark it back, thinking for a moment how sweet it would be to feel his little teeth plunge into his skin to the point of blood and proudly bear the mark of their embrace.

Yuri sank one last time into the depths of the young Human when he came at the same time from the young man whose grip on him tightened with force and uttered a strangled scream, his eyes closing as he threw his head back.

The body trembling, the Nahual falling to his side so as not to crush the young Human who remained motionless for a moment, visibly still immersed in the mists of orgasm, and Yuri stood up, reluctantly leaving the Japanese to put away the bottle of lubricant and clean them with a washcloth, His animal part still dominated him and demanded that he take care of his partner, and returned to lie down against him, after turning off the light, and hugged him, distractedly stroking his hair in the dark.

\- Akihito....

\- Mh?

Akihito grunted against his chest, obviously still half asleep, and Yuri couldn't help smiling before he blew, his chest suddenly feeling heavy.

\- Promise me that I will never see that loneliness in your eyes again.

He wanted to hope that he would be happy and that his eyes would shine like a sunny winter sky. He wanted to be able to think about it when he returned to his great East Siberian taigas and soothe the torments that his memory would give him.

\- I promise...

Akihito murmured in a voice so low and numb from sleep that Yuri wondered for a moment if he had really heard him, but didn't have the heart to shake him awake. Sighing, his icy, gleaming eyes gazed at the wall half lit by the pale glow of the moon, Yuri felt regret pierce his chest. Because he had been selfish. Because he'd slept with a Human who was turning his heart upside down. Because he should never have done that, should never have let his primal instincts take over. Because now he was in danger. Because he had to leave, no longer for his Clan, but also in the hope that the Council would not realize what had happened in that room, and in the one that distance would not prevent from making their situation worse.

_\- If you really love him, you should follow your heart._

_\- If I do, I put it at risk._

_\- So you'd rather give up and leave with your tail between your legs? You'd rather let other people decide for you who you can love?_

_\- Yes._

Yes, when those people were capable of as much cruelty as the Council - of the same cruelty that the Humans were capable of when they murdered women of their kind under the pretext that they were witches - yes. He would agree to return to Siberia and suffer the memory of the young man for centuries if it would allow him to live a happy and peaceful life.

Yuri buried his face in Akihito's pale hair and took a deep breath, wanting to carefully smell every nuance of the Human's perfume to remember, and whispering so softly that even Yuri could hardly hear himself, his vision blurring as a warm, salty tear escaped him.

\- Forgive me. I love you. I love you.


	3. Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry for the long absence, I hope you are well ;)
> 
> The modified chapters will be edited tomorrow night, I'll put an announcement to let you know which ones will have changed.
> 
> Happy reading to all of you!

Akihito was awakened by a pressing sensation of relieving his bladder, and, shortly afterwards, by soreness and a slight pain in one place... The Japanese man opened his eyes in a gasp at the memory of what he had done, and immediately turned to the side of the bed near the wall, expecting to find the Russian, a strange feeling of gentle heat pulsating in his chest, and felt disappointed when he saw that the muscular giant was no longer there.

Slowly, the young man stood up, astonished at the lack of pain, compared to what Asami had inflicted on him.

\- Yuri! Hurry up!

Yuri? Akihito approached his half-open bedroom window, letting in a cold draft of air with rare melting flakes. Why had the Russian left the window open? Curious, the young Japanese man stood on tiptoe and saw the parking lot and the woods around the complex covered with a thin layer of snow that would later melt under an anthracite gray sky.

He saw Yuri close the doors of a van whose interior seemed to contain a silhouette that Akihito was unable to identify and cast a worried glance around, as if he feared that someone might surprise them. The other person, looking for something in the front, seemed totally unknown to him, and Akihito wondered for a moment if it was an employee of any of the associated centers.

Then Akihito saw him. Dark blood stained the Russian's gray hooded sweatshirt and partly torn, leaving wounds that seemed deep.

\- It's okay, I'm here.

His friend joined him, a dark expression on his face as a young man in his early thirties, and whistled in an almost angry tone, probably because of the wounds he too had.

\- We have him now. We'd better get out of here before we get noticed.

He saw Yuri nod his head and raise his head towards him, wringing a shiver of fear from the young man as he stepped back, a cold sweat running down his spine.

What the hell were they doing? Why were they covered in blood? The Japanese man swallowed and locked himself in his bathroom to breathe, finding it strangely comforting to sit on the cold, white tile floor, his mind focused on what he had just seen and on his interactions with Yuri.

Yuri. Akihito didn't know what to think anymore. Perhaps there was a rational explanation for what he had seen. Maybe they had to transfer an animal that had been a bit fierce and they were going to Maybe their wounds were not as bad as they looked?

He didn't need to worry unnecessarily about anything. Akihito nodded his head, thinking that's all it could be, and slipped into the shower, somehow suffocating his anxiety deep inside him, perhaps refusing to face reality, as the burning water ran over his bruised skin, smiling when, instead of Asami's memories, it was the memories of the night he shared with Yuri that came back to him.

They stopped at a gas station a few dozen kilometers from the center. Stanislas put on a coat to cover his bloody clothes and went out to buy some provisions for the journey as well as clothes, his silence indicating to Yuri that he was angry with him.

The Shifter sighed in the heat of the cabin and glanced in the rearview mirror to see the dark shape of the panther collapsed on the metal floor, and the Nahual felt the rage explode in his chest again. Garbage.

He had left the young man at sunrise, opening the window to allow their odors to escape, a heavy weight settling in the pit of his stomach at the sight of the boy asleep in the sheets, his animal part begging to lie again against Akihito, and perhaps make love to him again, hidden under the warmth of the sheets, in the lazy manner demanded by the morning. But he had to go home, his Clan needed him.

He had gone out under the snow, waiting for his friend's arrival, when Asami arrived in a BMW, smelling of satisfaction and smiling with pride. Until he fell on him anyway. Yuri hadn't been able to control his animal part. He had taken off his clothes in a few seconds, leaving barely enough time for the Garou to realize his presence and react, and had leapt with a roar, his vision reduced to the enemy in front of him, his claws out to the point of hurting him.

The collision had been brutal. Yuri had felt his claws pierce the pulpit and shred it before the man under him turned, shredding his expensive clothes to pieces, whose ends had scattered around them, his golden eyes in front of his own filled with rage.

With his heart beating in his ears, the Nahual had tried to plunge his fangs into the throat of the feline trapped beneath him and had growled when the latter had also slammed his jaws against his, driving his fangs into the bone, causing a spark of pain that temporarily blinded the Shifter, allowing the panther to flex its muscles and plant its claws into his shoulders and push him away.

Yuri had grunted when he landed on the paved parking lot floor and staggered to his feet before his opponent jumped on him and lacerated part of his flank. Growling, the tiger had bent its legs to absorb the shock, using its tail to keep its balance, and had bitten the front leg of the panther that was about to give it another claw before pulling its head as hard as possible to make it slide, its mind concentrating solely on plunging its fangs into that tender throat and shaking its head.

The sudden sound of a vehicle engine had pulled them out of their fight and Yuri had purring when he saw Stanislas at the wheel of the van. With two of them, they could finish off the Garou. The Nahual had turned towards his target, who had straightened up and was clauding heavily, the pungent smell of fear telling him that the Garou had figured out who the newcomer was and that things were going to get worse for him.

Yuri had let out a satisfied purr and began to circle the panther, which had curled up on itself as it rumbled, ears folded back and chops rolled up, a gleam of fear shining in his eyes.

Akihito. This would be his last gift to the young man: the relief of knowing his rapist had died in suffering.

The Nahual had relaxed his attention when he saw the soft orange Petrel tiger shape and grunted when the Garou suddenly threw himself at him, probably in a desperate attempt to flee or reverse the fighting situation.

Breathlessly, Yuri had felt his body hit the ground violently and rekindle the bloody wounds and had roared when the Black Tiger had started scratching his chest and slamming his jaws close to his own. The Nahual had struggled under the Garou's weight and slammed his jaws to dissuade the other from trying to open his throat, and took a deep breath when Petrel threw himself on Asami and began rolling on the ground with him in an exchange of growls, scratches, and jaw slamming.

Yuri had struggled to stand up, cursing his wounded body for making him so weak, and had shaken himself before rushing to the aid of Petrel who exchanged claw blows with the panther in a feigned exchange, and had gathered all his strength to throw himself on the panther which was in precarious balance on his hind legs.

His claws had finally stuck into Asami's shoulder and chest and his fangs around part of his throat and neck. At last. Both their bodies had fallen heavily on the asphalt and Yuri was finally able to plant his fangs into the Garou's hard and firm flesh. The taste of warm blood had finally poured into his mouth and he had shaken it with energy, eager to end the life of the one who had done so much harm to the one he loved.

Below him, the Garou had struggled and made a kind of desperate, muffled growl, the panic clearly visible in his eyes, and Yuri had screamed out when fangs clung to his neck and pulled him somehow away from the panting, half-unconscious panther beneath him.

Sighing, the Nahual had agreed to step back and turned to see Petrel regain human form, visibly displeased.

\- Enough Yuri! You're going to kill him!

_That's the point. Akihito will at least be safe after that._

Stanislas had frowned in response and whistled in an acid tone, "You've done enough already. If on top of that the Council finds out that you killed one of our people... The Clan will no longer be able to protect you. " before running to the van to come back with a medical kit.

Yuri had reluctantly returned to his human form, annoyed that he couldn't end the life of the wretch whose wound around his neck Stanislas was healing to stop the bleeding, and had gone back to get dressed before scolding in a low voice, his human part whispering to him that Stanislas was right.

\- Very well.

Stanislas had glanced at him and had retorted more softly, probably trying to soothe him.

\- Pick up his clothes, we can't leave that kind of evidence. And you'll have to take a shower once you're back at the Clan, you smell like sex and Human.

\- We smell mostly blood at the moment.

The Nahual shook his head at the remembrance and turned his head to see Stanislas come back with two bags, which, from what Yuri could see, contained clothes, snacks and some bandages.

\- Where do we release him?

Yuri grabbed the shopping bag and put it at his feet before blowing "In a few kilometers, near the road. ». Stanislas nodded his head and stared at him for a few moments before asking:

\- Why a Human?

The door slammed shut and the Nahual started the engine and drove them out of the parking lot. Yuri leaned against the cold window and closed his eyes for a moment, his animal side proudly appreciating the burns from the wounds he was wearing. He had gotten them by defending the honor of the one he loved.

\- What was the reason for this? Good question...

He felt Stanislas sniff the air and blow a little "What's he like? "and Yuri opened an eye before whispering, his animal part purring softly at the idea of talking to the young man.

\- He's medium sized, for a Human, and quite thin. He has pale golden hair, eyes as blue as a desert sky. I think you'd like him, he has a heart on his hand and has a great sense of humor. The little ones would like him.

He felt Stanislas smile before whistling softly, his eyes resting on him for a moment and then looking in the rear-view mirror to watch the Garou in the back.

\- He must really be exceptional. I never thought you would be able to fall in love.

\- Neither would I.

They finally stopped a few miles away to clean and bandage their wounds and release the Garou. Yuri felt his fists clench at the sight of the Japanese and breathed heavily before grabbing his hind legs and dragging him, helped by Stanislas who pushed the beast in the back.

\- And how are Petrel and Nadia?

They threw the body on the icy, wet ground before dragging it painfully for a few meters, the sudden muscle contractions under his hands and the faint growls indicating that the Garou was waking up.

\- All right, the kittens finally opened their eyes and Mikhail and Aaron spend their time playing with it.

Stanislas bit his lips, visibly hesitating to add anything in front of the Garou and Yuri nodded his head in a sign of understanding and released his grip before kicking the animal's ribs to wake him up. Stanislas leapt away when the panther suddenly rose and feigned, his golden eyes soon fixed on them and shrank in rage at their sight.

But he did not attack them. The Garou remained in a defensive posture, his wheezing and difficulty standing telling them that the Shifter's condition simply did not allow him to fight them both.

\- We agree to release you, Garou.

Stanislas approached with a step, a stern look on his emaciated face and a gleam of cold anger shining in the depths of his anthracite plums as he pointed at the beast and uncovered its fangs.

\- Let's be clear: it's better for you to keep your mouth shut. And if we learn that you have touched or approached Akihito again, our Clan will make you live through Hell. Do you understand?

The beast growled weakly in response and wiggled its ears, a thwarted and hateful glow in its golden plums. Satisfied and surprised that Stanislas made such a statement, Yuri nodded slightly and closed the doors of the van before getting back inside with his friend and returning to the road that would take them to the airport.

Akihito did not expect to see a crowd gathered in the corridor where the inner enclosures of the beasts were located. Shouts in Russian could be heard, and from the commotion, something serious had happened.

\- Akihito! You will never believe it!

At the edge of the crowd, Ai waved his hand to join her, and the young man felt his heart leap in his chest at the sight of the Russian police uniform. What was going on? Instinctively, he began to look for Yuri with his eyes, before mentally calling himself an idiot, remembering that the latter had left early this morning.

\- Yuri has disappeared! When the caretakers arrived this morning to feed the tigers, they found the cage open, and there was blood on the parking lot.

The Japanese felt an icy shiver run down his back as he remembered what he had seen this morning. But maybe that had nothing to do with it, Yuri was an employee after all, wasn't he? Seized by a huge doubt, Akihito thanked Ai in a whisper and walked away to find the Human Resources manager and coughed to get him out of his Russian conversation with another staff member, and the young man felt the discomfort grab him when the man's eyes fell on him, visibly unhappy to be interrupted.

\- What?

\- Is one of your employees' name Yuri?

The man motioned to him that not after a few seconds, a suspicious look on his face burned by age and antipathy, and Akihito thanked him faintly before leaving, a sudden urge to vomit oppressing his chest, a feeling of humiliation eating away at him like a wave of acid. Had Yuri used him?

The young man bit his lips, tears of shame burning his eyes as his steps led him back to his small studio, his brain replaying the moments spent with Yuri over and over again. How stupid he had been to think that the man cared about him! The man's plan must have been to befriend him, probably to convince him to give him as much information as possible about how the place worked or to open the doors of the building at night so that he could take the tiger.

In the end, Akihito had made it easier for him by allowing him to stay for the night. The young man shouted in rage, his eyesight blurred with tears, and hit the wall with his fist several times until the pain was felt in an eruption of fire. Grimacing, the Japanese man brought his arm back to his chest and stared for a few moments at the throbbing, blood-stained wound dripping on the PVC floor, finding some kind of relief from the pain that was running through his nerves and distracting him from his emotions that were bubbling inside him like a storm on the open sea.

\- Fuck you Yuri.

His clear eyes fell away from his open wound to the bone and Akihito walked back to his studio, quickly thinking about what he should do. Warn the authorities that Yuri was the thief and that he had an accomplice? Should he lie about "how" Yuri had been able to enter the building at night? Akihito didn't want to talk about what had happened, he didn't want to get into trouble with the mafia, and he didn't want to be with people judging or pitying him.

And if there were security cameras, they might find out that he had lied. Or that he was involved in the robbery. And he could be charged for not telling the authorities what he knew.

Akihito collapsed on his bed and took his head in his hands with a sigh, his belly knotted in anguish, mentally calling Yuri and himself names, holding back with great difficulty to give in once again to destructive impulses of violence.

The vibrations of a telephone cut him off in his thoughts, and Akihito straightened himself up, mechanically grabbing his phone and opening his eyes when he noticed that it wasn't his that was vibrating. Akihito leapt to his feet and looked frantically for the device, using his hearing to guide himself and finally found it hidden between the sheets.

The gray Samsung S20 displayed the word "Фойе" for a moment before the call disappeared, which caused the young man to hurriedly open the phone, surprised to see no password or protection of any kind standing in his way.

Surprisingly, the phone was completely empty, as if it had never been used, and contained only one phone contact, the one he had seen displayed earlier. No messages, just regular calls, the oldest of which dated back to the day of his arrival in Russia. And probably Yuri's too.

Akihito hesitated for a moment to call back when the contact sent an SMS in Russian which the young man hastily copied for translation through Google and looked away in astonishment when he read it.

**От Фойе :**

Вы, должно быть, Акихито, верно? Мой дядя много о тебе рассказывал!У меня мало времени, чтобы тебе: едет в Зирианку и продолжает юг. Обычно вы оказываетесь на дать, следуете за маленькой и приезжаете дороге нам домой.

_You must be Akihito, right? My uncle told me a lot about you! I don't have much time to give you: go to Zyrianka and continue south... Normally you will end up on a small dirt road, follow it and you will arrive at our place._

Akihito bit his lips at the answer, a small voice whispering to him that the child seemed to be too precise on the road to take for that to be normal. If he really was Yuri's nephew, he had to be accompanied by adults. Maybe they were answering in his place and had answered in the kid's place.

I will just have to be careful and leave the car further away so as not to be noticed. It's not the first time that you decide to follow dangerous people, you know how not to get caught.

**От Юрия :**

Можешь сказать, сколько мне понадобится времени, чтобы добраться туда?

_Can you tell me how long it will take me to get there?_

Yuri should have left less than two hours ago, Akihito would be able to catch up with him if he drove fast. The young man straightened up and quickly put on warmer clothes and took his backpack to put some clothes and provisions in it while waiting for the answer from the Russian's "nephew", already searching on Google for the approximate time to get from Primorsky to Zyrianka and whistled when he saw how long it would take him to reach Zyrianka.

**От Фойе :**

Я не знаю. Я не знаю. Я не знаю. Наверное, несколько часов.

_I don't know. Probably a few hours._

So much for the car. The young man did some research on the Internet with his own phone and bought plane tickets to Yakutsk and then to Zyrianka. The trip will probably take more than ten hours, but it will still be less than the whole days of travel that awaited him if he took the car.

Akihito hesitated for a moment, wondering if Yuri would really fly with a tiger and sighed. Unless the plane was private, there was a good chance the man would make the trip by car.

**От Юрия :**

Скажи, ты не знаешь, должен ли твой твой приехать дядя машине на самолете?

_Say, do you know if your uncle is supposed to come by car or by plane?_

**От Фойе :**

Да. Он прилетает

_Yes. It arrives by plane_

Yes. Akihito rented a car for three days and went to the bathroom to get his toilet bag before wince at his reflection in the mirror. He looked like a young thug with all his injuries. The one he was just a few years ago and who made his parents despair.

The young man sneered and turned on the faucet to clean his hand wound. His plane would leave in four hours, and each flight would last three hours. He only had to hope that Yuri would take as long as he did to reach his destination and that the tiger would always be with him.

He quickly healed his hand, grimaced at the pain caused by the contact of the gas against his bruised wound and then by the bandage, a mechanical gesture he had already done dozens of times, much to the chagrin of his parents.

At the time, he did not know how much his behavior as a thug could impact his future, despite his parents' admonitions, who had explained it to him in every possible way though. Akihito's behavior had finally made itself known in his high school and Akihito was quickly ostracized by the other students and teachers: rejected and often mistreated by the teachers who had decided to make him an example for others, Akihito ended up freaking out and being kicked out of the high school for having attacked a teacher in a fit of rage.

Akihito still remembers thinking that it wasn't that bad. That it would be different in other high schools and colleges, but now he was as good as branded, his academic record was enough to get him kicked off the registration lists.

_How stupid I could be at the time._

If he was now asked to go back in time, Akihito would do it. To slap this rebellious delinquent who thought he knew better than everyone else and who was screwing up their future.

Not that he disliked being a photographer, but the young man knew full well that he had been lucky to succeed without having any training or contacts that would have made him known. But he had always been alone, rejected by Japanese society, which had always tended to reject those who did not fit the mold and exclude them.

_And if you manage to find Yuri, you'll be the guy who helped the cops catch him and you'll probably get a bigger reputation._

Maybe it wasn't a good thing, but Akihito couldn't let an opportunity like that slip through his fingers. The Japanese man closed his bag and put it on his shoulder before taking the keys to a car that was in the staff lounge and got into the Toyota that the center had made available to the staff, determined to stop Yuri by himself, a desire for revenge bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

The journey had been long and painful. But now he was finally home. Yuri stretched out in the little car that Stanislas had left at the airport for their direct return trip and got out, the excitement in him about to explode like a volcano, and smiled as he approached the Foyer, a pine and oak chalet big enough to accommodate several families. This was what he was to any of the few visitors who would think of passing by. A tourist cottage for people who would like to get away from civilization or go camping, with a small greenhouse, a dirt field where an SUV was parked, and a large pile of wood under a tarpaulin.

Through the windows, the Nahual saw a head with spiky blond hair appearing at one of the windows and smiled when this steel-eyed head disappeared while running and the door opened a few seconds later.

\- GRRRRR!!!

The Shifter had just enough time to crouch down and stretch his arms before his protégé jumped on him as a young tiger and growled when the latter grunted his hind paws in an attempt to hang on while the claws of his front paws planted themselves in one of his shoulders and he frantically licked his face while purring and wagging his tail like a puppy.

Amused and tender, Yuri hugged him before covering Aaron's hairy head with kisses, and Aaron shouted a joyful cry before cowering in his arms, visibly at ease in this position.

That was it, he was home. He was finally home. His heart clutched for a moment at the thought of the young blond man he had left behind, but the arrival of Eva, Petrel and Mikhail distracted him from his thoughts.

\- Happy to finally see you again Yuri!

Eva hadn't changed since his departure: she was still the tall, slender woman with the long hair of an ashy blond who had turned many heads because of their rarity and beauty, and with eyes of a blue-grey color studded with gold nuggets.

Petrel, for his part, seemed tired, with his beard of a few days of salt and pepper eating away at his cheeks, and the dark bags under his turquoise eyes.

\- I am happy to see you again too, I missed you all very much.

He bent down to caress Mikhail's head and kissed it before whispering to him to go back inside when he saw Eva's gravely gaze on him. Eva obeyed, but turned around to give Aaron an envious look when he saw that he was holding him in his arms.

But Yuri had no desire to let go of his little one, the animal in him was repulsed by the idea. He had already abandoned his companion for the Clan, he wouldn't abandon his kitten. He needed to have Aaron against him, to have him against him and to make sure he was safe.

Eva signaled Mikhail to come home, no doubt understanding his need to keep the young Shifter against him, and leaned against the wooden wall before blowing exhaustively, seeming finally to accept to show his signs of weakness.

\- We finally heard from Vladimir. He is in Moscow and has apparently decided to join the Bratva, the Russian mafia.

\- Why this?

His arms tightened around Aaron who yawned before closing his eyes, probably to pretend to be asleep. The animal part of Nahual was happy about the departure of his brother, his rival for the leadership of the Clan doubled as an incompetent, but his human part was already thinking about the consequences of Vassily's actions. The Russian mafia. How stupid was his brother? And why had he done it?

Either his brother had decided to live among the Humans and probably join the Garous, or he had decided that his Clan would be better off away from their native taiga. And Yuri didn't like that, and the rest of the Clan would probably not agree with such a decision.

\- He didn't tell us. But he will come back in a few days apparently. As for the poachers, we have to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Yuri's human part took over, leaving just the animal part to scold his anger deep inside.

\- I'll take care of it this afternoon. Stanislas, Petrel, Sofia and Nina will come with me.

Eva nodded gravely and whispered an "I'm coming too" before returning inside, followed by the other Shifters who looked at him with a touch of fear and hope in their eyes. They had faith in him to hunt the damn poachers.

And between his arms, Aaron moved an ear, attentive to the conversation.

As promised, Yuri left at the end of the afternoon with his small patrol, using his sense of smell to find the poachers who, according to reports from members of his Clan, always passed within a few kilometers of the Foyer in their hunt, regularly following the small dirt road that connected them to Zyrianka.

Finally, he felt them. The stench of pollution, gunpowder and metal, was foul and rancid. He wagged his long tail to indicate to the others that he had smelled it and that they were about to begin the hunt, and he placed himself at the head of their group with Eva, whose neck hair was bristling with anger and probably with a touch of anxiety.

From the smell, Yuri estimated that the poachers had passed an hour earlier. Eva growled before she trotted, urging them to follow her pace, and the Nahual hoped for a moment that at this rate they would find them before the sun went down.

The Nahual wiggled his whiskers at the sight of the leader waving silently among the tall pines that dotted the snowy ground, which turned orange-pink in the setting sun. Eva had done well without him: she had made regular patrols of the territory so that the poachers could get used to seeing the tigers at certain times and in certain places.

And now it made it easier for them to track them.

Yuri wiggled his fine mane to get rid of the snowflakes that were beginning to melt on his orange and black fur and picked up the pace, enjoying the sensation of the snow crunching under his weight, the wind stirring his thick coat and being able to smell the thousand smells of the forest that blended into a symphony that only his brain could later unravel. He was happy to be home at last. He couldn't wait to hunt again, to sort through all the smells to find the one he was interested in and to get them to smell and hunt that prey on their own, to watch them from afar. He couldn't wait to roll around in the snow again playing with Aaron, to sleep with his little one against him, to train him to fight and to take him beyond their territory to show him the beauties of the world.

A feeling of heaviness came over him when his unconscious reminded him that there would always be someone missing, and his instincts were screaming that it was HIS companion, that perhaps Fate or some higher entity had bound them together. That in any case, the bond between them was stronger than any other bond he would form with other people.

A rumble of Eva beside him took him out of his thoughts, and Yuri raised his head to see that they were approaching the edge of the forest, and from the smell of smoke, alcohol, and food in the air, they couldn't have been far from the temporary camp that the poachers had had to set up. Far enough from Zyrianka for them to be quiet and from the territory that a normal tiger would occupy, but close enough to the small dirt road that led to a concrete road that itself led to civilization.

Unfortunately for them, they were much more than just tigers who lived alone and were only there for the breeding season.

Concentrated, Yuri moved his tail, signaling others to start surrounding the camp with tents and cars, and approached on his stomach, being careful not to make a sound as he advanced through the snow-covered brush, his golden eyes staring intently at what was in front of him, until he saw the green plastic tents and heard the growls and cries of visibly drunk men. A few meters away from him, Eva froze and moved an ear before stiffening her tail, code for the men were armed. Yuri nodded his head and scolded slightly to get Sofia's attention, who nodded and passed on the message.

The tiger waited a few more minutes before running and launching the assault, its legs still sliding silently through the snow until it entered the camp and roared loudly to scare off the poachers. The poachers' eyes widened in horror when they saw five tigers coming into their home, and it took them a few seconds before they reacted and decided to throw themselves on their weapons that they had left near them while they were drinking.

Yuri took advantage of those few seconds to throw himself on the nearest man and stick his fangs into his jaws, which he snapped off with a sharp blow to the head, the screams of the garbage below him choking into an inaudible gurgling sound.

The poachers started shouting orders and insults, visibly sober, and Yuri looked at them to estimate their chances: about twenty, about eight with dilated pupils, and their slowness in grasping their weapons indicated to him that they were already quite drunk and that they would therefore be easier to kill.

The fight was going to be uneven but necessary for the survival of their small group.

Invigorated by the smell of blood and fear, Yuri roared again, frightening the Humans back, and ran back, followed by the rest of his group. Now that they had frightened them well, they had to be distracted and separated, dividing their group by driving them into the forest. Their tactics worked. The Humans, instead of running away like any sensible animal would do, began to chase them, stumbling several times in the snowdrifts, and Yuri deliberately scolded or stopped from time to time to allow the two humans who had decided to chase him to follow him properly.

When they had gone far enough away, Yuri turned to catch them from behind, cowering behind a rock and waiting for the two armed fools to join him, his ears pricked up to hear them wading through the snow and slowly moving closer together whispering softly to each other.

When they finally reached his height, the Shifter leapt to the rock and jumped on top of them, all claws out, simply letting his instinct guide him in his movements. He let himself fall heavily on the nearest one, dragging his colleague down with him, who let out a surprised scream and fired a shot into the air. Yuri growled loudly before he stuck his fangs into the arm of the armed man underneath him and pulled dry, dragging the man's body a few feet before shaking his head forcefully, the feeling of the muscles tearing under his fangs and the man's screams of pain enough to excite the Nahual and fully awaken his wildest instincts.

His vision became covered with a red veil and seemed to shrink to focus only on his two victims who stank of terror, alcohol and piss. He scolded when the Human whose arm he was holding began to struggle, hitting him on the muzzle with his hand while his feet tried to dig into his ribs.

He fired when the second human hit him with the butt of his gun, and instinctively let go of the linting arm that was now unable to hold a rifle. Stunned, Yuri staggered back and shook his head in an attempt to regain his senses when the scream of one of the Humans made him tick.

\- What the fuck is this shit?! Get that thing the fuck off me!

A high-pitched blaze reached him, followed by an all-too-familiar scent that sent an icy shiver down the Shifter's spine. Aaron.

Yuri opened his eyes again, fighting against the dizziness that followed the blow, and saw with horror Aaron on the back of the poacher who had hit him, the young tiger of about ten kilos clinging as best he could with his little claws while he bit the hands that tried to grab him.

The Shifter saw red. He heard a scream of rage that surprised both the scum and his cub, who immediately jumped to the ground and cowered on himself, and saw himself throwing himself at the poacher who jumped on his weapon, narrowly dodging him before pointing his weapon at him and firing.

The bullet did not hit him. It just grazed him, splashing red blood all over the immaculate snow, and Yuri roared with rage, instinctively placing himself between the two Humans and Aaron, who rounded his back and spat out all his hair, bristling with fear and excitement.

 _Protect Aaron_. It was the only thing his mind would accept to record, his only objective and his ultimate goal.

His appearance terrified both men. The able-bodied man helped his wounded friend straighten up and they ran away, looking terrified behind them over and over again.

_No need to run after them, terrified as they are, they will be content to save their miserable skin._

A body brushing against his hind legs brought him out of contemplation and the Shifter lowered his head to see that Aaron had slipped underneath his belly and had the decency to display a contrite look, although the stars in his eyes and the trembling of his body betrayed his excitement at having done something so dangerous.

Sniffing, Yuri stepped aside, refusing to let his kitten hide while he was being scolded, and grabbed him by the skin of his neck, attracting a mewing of protest which he muffled with a muffled roar of warning. They couldn't have this discussion now, but they would as soon as the poachers were driven out.

He set him down by the rock where he had hidden and quickly dug a hole deep and wide enough for Aaron to settle in, which he did without being asked, obviously realizing that he had really made him angry.

The Shifter sighed and gently pressed his nose against Aaron's small head before gently purring and walking away from Aaron's beaten dog eyes. He had to get rid of those damn poachers first.

Akihito braked suddenly when a 4x4 almost ran into him. The young man coughed up an insult and turned around to give them the finger, angry that he was about to be run over for the third time by hit-and-run drivers, before noticing that an injured man was in the back of the vehicle and looked vaguely scared, but the scene was so short that the young man was not sure.

What made them run away like that? Piqued by curiosity, and his instinct telling him that he was getting close to the goal, the young man stepped on the gas pedal to get closer to the forest, and felt his heart leap in his chest when he heard shots being fired, probably not from very far in view of the deafening noise.

He stopped at the entrance to the forest, surprised by the screams of fear and the roar of wild beasts he heard in the distance, and weighed for a moment the pros and cons of going into the forest that seemed to be a war zone.

But Yuri was surely there, and perhaps the roars he heard came from the other Yuri. Besides, he didn't have to stay. He just had to take a few incriminating photos and call the police who would take care of the rest.

Taking his courage in both hands, Akihito got out of his car and grimaced at the biting cold that ran through him despite his thick clothes and military suede boots that he had bought from a military surplus. He tightened his grip on his camera that hung around his neck and ran through the snow to the camp where he pillaged clean when he saw the corpse of a man whose face had visibly seen better days.

Trembling with cold and a sudden burst of adrenaline, Akihito quickly took a picture before looking away and headed off to the corner of a tent to cautiously head into the forest, following the footprints of men and beasts to guide himself and the shots that were becoming increasingly rare and spaced out.

Akihito shivered when a scream of agony was heard and plunged the place into a morbid and heavy silence that made the young man's heart leap in his chest and his instinct screamed for him to run away and join the car, to get to safety away from this place where members of his species had died.

For once, the young man decided to listen to his most basic instincts and ran away, running among the emaciated pines that now seemed as threatening as if their branches were gnarled hands with claws and mocking faces.

A cry escaped him when he stumbled on a root, part of him fearing for a moment that it was the hand of someone with evil intentions or that this fall would allow a potential pursuer to catch him.

Trembling with all his limbs, the Japanese man straightened up and swallowed a new cry when he noticed what he had stumbled upon. Another corpse. This one had his throat completely ripped out to the point that Akihito could see the white of his spine, and his eyes were wide open in a horror without a name. And another corpse that seemed to have been thrown violently against a small rocky ledge, and whose skull was splintered, and traces of blood were sinking into the forest with those of wide legs.

The young man ran a few more meters until he arrived near the deserted camp where he stopped to catch his breath and took out his phone to call the police.

A low, muffled, almost threatening rumble made him freeze, a cold sweat running down his back as he slowly turned, his finger hanging over the call icon under the police number.

Yuri. He was sure it was him. He recognized the intelligence in those warm, golden eyes, the position and width of the stripes, the thick fur around his neck... but this time the tiger looked at him with a pained gleam in his eyes, as if he had disappointed him, and Akihito felt his stomach get knotted in the face of that look and the sight of the blood staining his fur.

\- Hey, hey big boy! How are you doing, buddy? Everybody was worried about you... Did Yuri do this to you?

In front of him, the tiger looked away and wiggled his ear, seeming to be looking at something on the outskirts of the camp, but when Akihito followed his gaze, he saw nothing. Then he heard a frightful cracking sound that the Japanese would have had a hard time identifying: probably the sound of a bone breaking or a shoulder being re-boned.

Disgusted by this noise, Akihito moved back a few steps before seeing that it was Yuri. Yuri whose fur disappeared under his skin. Yuri whose hind legs were turning over in a noise of bone and flesh being crushed. Yuri whose legs were shrinking and the pads were getting longer and thinner to form hands. Yuri whose tail seemed to retract inside him, just as his mouth flattened to begin forming a human face, whose ears shrunk and changed shape to form human ears, and whose eyes took on a familiar blue tint.

In less than a few seconds, the tiger in front of him had become a naked Russian that was a little too familiar to his eyes.

Akihito opened his mouth, probably to scream in fear, to exclaim at the transformation or to say just about anything in the face of this surreal situation. But nothing came out, and his legs were like lead rooted in the cold, wet ground, and his finger was still hovering above his now black screen.

\- I'm sorry, Akihito. I never wanted this.

The creature in front of him lowered his head, probably out of shame or sorrow, and Akihito ended up screaming when arms grabbed him violently, lifting him off the ground and making him drop his phone because of the surprise.

\- But I can't let you go. Not after everything you've just seen.

Akihito heard himself screaming for help, tears of terror flowing freely down his cheeks as his heart galloped madly with fear in his chest and he struggled with all his energy in this steel grip that had no trouble holding him against it, his fingernails digging painfully into the hard skin as his feet needlessly struck the legs of the man holding him.

One of the arms went up to his throat and Akihito hiccupped when the grip tightened to the point of strangling him and closed his eyes when he saw Yuri turn away to join a child just as naked as him and the man who was strangling him.

\- You should have stayed home, buddy.

The young man heard a strangling sound as he was strangled and a feeling of heaviness overtook him, as well as the horrible feeling of being simply unable to swallow any oxygen despite his best efforts. Exhausted, he stopped struggling, his limbs suddenly too heavy for him, and let the dizziness drag him into a dark and cold torpor that must have been the torpor of death.


	4. Sweet and sour feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!   
> How are you doing? I hope you'll enjoy this new long chapter ^^   
> The next chapter will probably come out at the end of March because I have big questions to present at the end of the month ^^^  
> Feel free to leave a comment, it always pleases the author and take care of you :) !

He had a sore throat. A painful sensation of irritation and throbbing that followed the rhythm of his heartbeat and brought him out of his dreamless sleep.

Slowly, Akihito opened his eyes, holding back a groan from the pain in his throat, and struggled to straighten himself up before he froze, noticing that he was not in his studio room.

It was a cottage room, judging by the walls and the wooden floor, which contained only his bed, a wardrobe, a bedside table, and a window that gave him a view of an open field on the edge of the forest. And his foot was chained to one of the wooden uprights of the bed.

Then he remembered. The camp, the corpses, Yuri and his transformation. The strangulation.

Akihito felt an icy wave running through him, as if the finger of death had brushed against his spine, and felt panic suddenly overtake him. If he was still alive, and tied up, it meant that a fate worse than death awaited him.

His hands grabbed the leather-covered metal buckle that was trapping his ankle and pulled needlessly on it, in a totally desperate attempt to miraculously free himself. With tears in his eyes, the young man sat on the floor, leaning against the bed, and buried his face against his hands.

No one knew he was there. He should have warned Ai of his departure, she would have been able to hold her tongue and not tell the others. But he still had to act stupid and reckless.

At the same time, how could you know that.... that Yuri was the tiger?!

He would have liked to deny what he had seen. To pretend that it was a momentary insanity, a hallucination due to panic or anything else. But he remembered it clearly, as clearly as the bloody corpses that the snow had begun to cover.

Footsteps of a child could be heard in the hallway and Akihito quickly dried his tears before the door opened on a little blond boy about 10-12 years old with light medium-length blond hair and frosted blue eyes. The boy watched him for a few seconds from the opening, biting his lips while his light eyes showed his intense reflection. Then his baby face took on an astonishing severity that would probably have made Akihito smile at another time, and he exclaimed in a clear voice that had not yet experienced the joys of molting.

\- I'm going to tell Mom that you're finally awake.

Akihito didn't have time to answer that the door had already closed and that hurried footsteps could be heard in the hallway. Sighing, the young man got up, with death in his soul at the thought of what was about to happen, and approached the window to see movement around the field. Tigers. Toddlers clumsily chasing an adult under the supervision of another.

Were they like Yuri? Were they also capable of transformation? Were they some kind of...werewolf, if he could call them that?

He turned around when the door opened again with a slight squeak to see a woman enter the small room, her blue-gray eyes like water trapped under a thick layer of ice staring at him as if he was a secret she was trying to pierce.

\- Hello Akihito. I am Eva, the leader of this Clan.

She closed the door behind her and heard someone lock it a few seconds later. The grayish eyes came out of him as the woman turned away to look out the window.

\- Believe me young man, I would love to let you go so that you can live your life, but you have seen too much and I cannot risk you revealing information that could cause your loss and Yuri's loss.

\- So you're going to kill me?

He has a thousand questions. Who or what are they? Why did you kill those people? Why did Yuri make him believe that he cared about him if it meant betraying him? But his questions die in his throat in fear of dying and an icy hand seems to hold his heart as the woman's answer to him is slow in coming.

The woman named Eva just smiled slightly and left the window to stab her eyes into his, a vaguely amused glow seeming to light them for a moment.

\- No, she did not. Killing you would draw the Council's attention even more, and that's the last thing my people want. Moreover, your murder would anger some members of my Clan.

Yuri. Did the man plead for his life? Perhaps out of guilt for what he did to her? Or did he feel responsible for his fate? Unless the members of the so-called "Clan" disagreed with killing an innocent man and made their opinion known.

In any case, Akihito felt the weight pressing on his chest gradually disappearing and he felt his legs getting weak to the point that he preferred to sit on the bed. Eva blinked before getting closer to the door, inspecting with interest the small room before saying more softly.

\- I feel sorry for you, Akihito. Asami and Yuri broke our laws by dragging you into our world, and now your life is in danger.

Then she returned, with a feline step that reminded her of Yuri's, while her eyes shone with cunning and threat and her voice resonated with the sweetness of a whisper in the small room.

\- If the Council learns that a Human is aware of our existence, they will make every effort to eliminate him and those responsible for that knowledge. Then you will understand that it is in your interest and ours that you show yourself cooperative.

Yuri slipped silently between the bushes, his amber eyes watching Aaron's hunt attentively. The kitten had spotted the scent of a hare about ten meters away and had already begun to crawl cautiously through the snow, careful to keep his tail stiff and straight behind him so that his movements would not alert the rodent to his presence.

The Shifter wiggled its ears, camouflaged in the morning mist, and moved closer to its small protégé and prey. If Aaron missed it, Yuri would still have the opportunity to take advantage of the element of surprise to catch the hare and not spoil their chance.

Then finally, the young tiger moved, his legs reaching out before he jumped and a squeak was heard, followed by the characteristic cracking of teeth breaking a neck. Yuri purred softly, a sense of pride lifting his chest before he transformed and slowly emerged from the undergrowth to join Aaron, who widened his eyes when he saw him.

\- Nice catch Aaron. Go back to camp, I'll see how Mikhail is doing.

The kitten wiggled his ears, his amber eyes filled with pride and satisfaction as he grabbed the snowshoe hare between his jaws with difficulty and started to trot towards the small gorge where the camp usually lived, stumbling from time to time on his prey which was almost as big as he was.

Yuri hesitated for a moment to go and help Aaron, his animal instinct trying to get him to help his cub and lick it to warm it up and clean it from the snow, but his reason told him that he had to go to Mikhail first and that Aaron was only big enough to manage.

The Nahual sighed, rolled his shoulders under the garments made of fur and Shifter wool, took on his tiger-like shape and lifted his nose to the icy air to smell the surrounding smells and find Mikhail's trail, the shy songs of the birds and the sounds of small animals being the only noises that kept the silence from falling heavily on the naked forest.

Mikhail.... Yuri almost wanted to tear off his nephew's ears. Eva had told him that it was he who had answered Akihito and guided him to them. What was that stupid hairball thinking?

But he shouldn't have forgotten the phone either. Although Akihito would probably never have been able to trace it back to them, let alone become a threat to their Clan.

Yuri glanced over his shoulder, looking in the direction of the Home, and felt his stomach get knotted up. He had tried to see Akihito several times, trying to reassure him that no harm would ever come to him, that he would try to convince Eva to release him in a few months, when things had calmed down and they were sure that the Council would not intervene in the strange events that had occurred.

But the young man had always refused to speak to her, shouting at her to leave, hitting him and with a hatred in his eyes that had deeply wounded the Shifter who had given up on the third attempt.

Since then, the Human had remained locked up in his little room, refusing to speak to anyone or to go outside even in the Home, and Yuri had caught him many times looking at the forest with an air of despair and sadness.

 _Refocus Yuri!_ The wild beast snuck up, dislodging the snowflakes clinging to his fur, and climbed the slope of a hill that was often the shelter of ermines whose enticing smell attracted many predators.

Yuri wagged his tail, a little disappointed that his nephew did not choose a more complicated hunting spot. How could he evaluate his progress if Mikhail chose a place full of prey where he only had to roar to make dozens of them run away?

He finally spotted his nephew lying in the snow at the foot of a tree, his coat soaked and covered with snow indicating that young Nahual had been clever enough to mask his scent with it so that the ermines would not suspect his presence.

Yuri sat down a few meters away, annoyed by the immobility of the young Shifter who was obviously waiting for one of these bugs to come out of his hole to catch it.

_This is not a bad technique. During the other seasons at least._

In winter, the prey preferred to stay warm in their burrows and only rarely went out, only to look for food, and it was often at night.

Aaron was lucky to find the hare outside his burrow. Otherwise, he probably would have had to go out to find the exits of the burrow to butcher them and push the rodent to flee.

But Mikhail preferred to wait and waste precious time.

Yuri yawned before lying down in the snow, his fur bristling and puffing up to protect him from the cold snow that would soon wet him as if he had dived into the water, and prepared himself for a long wait.

After a few minutes, the Nahual saw the first signs of impatience in his nephew, who began to wag his tail with annoyance, the sound of his tail hitting the snow probably alerting rodents to his presence and causing them to burrow even deeper into their burrows.

His animal part growled, eager to correct the child for wasting their time and precious food in these difficult times, while his human part begged him to stop this torture.

In any case, this hunting party was a failure. The ermines would not dare to try to repointer the tip of their nose before nightfall.

Yuri stood up, his limbs frozen from the waiting, and took on his human form again, which eventually distracted Mikhail from his hunt.

\- Mikhail, come here.

The kitten took one last look at the hole between the roots before standing up stiffly and snorting, throwing water around him before joining him with a sheepish look and taking human form again.

\- I failed, didn't I?

The Nahual sighed and ran a hand through his nephew's soggy, spiky hair before blowing gently, knowing how important it was to reassure him so he wouldn't lose confidence.

\- It was a good idea Mikhail. But in winter, the prey are reluctant to go outside.

His nephew nodded his head and Yuri added after a few seconds, taking pity on the child.

\- We'll try again in the spring, okay? And if you attract them with seeds, it will be even more effective.

Finally, the young boy smiled, thrilled at the prospect of trying again in a few months, and jumped back to his animal form before scurrying towards the throat.

We still have food supplies, and Eva can still send out a hunting patrol this afternoon.

Yuri shook his head, trying to chase his worries from his head, and returned to the camp, his chest tightening as he saw the silhouette of the Foyer, a hundred meters away, still inhabited by Petrel and Nadia and by some members of the Clan in charge of guarding Akihito.

Finally, he reached the gorge, where their camp was located.

From the top of the small cliff, Yuri had a breathtaking view of the large valley of about ten meters located between two densely wooded cliffs where a small stream meandered between the pebbles. Several tigers lingered there as well as clan members dressed in thick clothes chatting among themselves on wet rocks undisturbed by the ambient cold.

I can't wait for the return of spring.

Even though their species was not subject to the breeding cycles of normal animals, the men of the tribe always enjoyed engaging in love chases with their companions and finding a sunny and enchanting spot to love on soft grass and under the blessing of songbirds.

For a moment, he saw himself chasing a slender, slender tiger with white fur with black stripes on it, their legs lightly brushing against thick, tender grass as they wandered among moss covered pines and green hardwoods, and Yuri could almost smell the thousands of tantalizing smells surrounding them and the tiger's desire before him. And so did he. His vision blurred with imagined scenes he wanted to make possible, and his instincts were screaming for him to catch up with the young tiger and prove to him that he was a strong and vigorous companion who deserved the honor of letting him love him.

But it would never be anything more than a dream, and Yuri had to cherish these precious moments with the young man.

The Shifter resumed his tiger-like shape and brought his legs under him and stretched his muscles before jumping the five meters that separated him from the rocky floor of the gorge, his arrival surprising the few members of the Clan who looked at each other with concern. An anxiety that Yuri smelled as much as the fresh smell of his brother.

Has Vassili returned?

The Nahual quickened his pace as he plunged into the rift where an impetuous and powerful spring had long ago poured into the gorge, and let the rocks scratch his coat for long minutes, until he finally reached the cave that must have once been the water table of this spring.

The cave was shaped like an igloo, manually pierced at the top to allow maximum light to enter and allow vegetation to invade and absorb the moisture from the snow or rain - and the gently sloping ground leading to the fault allowed water to drain easily in case of heavy rainfall. The walls of the cave were pierced with tunnels that led to caves where the Clan had found shelter.

Yuri slipped into one of these tunnels, smelling the scent of his family members, and took on human form to reach the cave he shared with Aaron.

The cave was not very large - Yuri would estimate it to be a little less than twenty meters in circumference - and contained only two round nests made of furs, two chests containing Human and Shifter clothing, and luminous stones that the first occupants of the cave had managed to hang from the ceiling to light up the room.

He found Aaron sitting in his nest, a sulky expression on his scarred face, and visibly lost in his thoughts, his scent carrying the pheromones of anxiety but also the fragrances of Vassili's perfume.

What else had Vassili done? Yuri shook his head and coughed to warn the young boy of his presence and sat down gently on the edge of the fur pile, noticing the red trace of a hand around the frail arm of the young man who cast a worried look at him before blowing in a low voice.

\- I ran into him in the forest, and he told me to tell you that he wanted to see you and Eva. That there would be a change.

The Nahual felt his teeth grind painfully as he pulled Aaron against him to soothe him. Vassili had often allowed himself to be obnoxious or even mean to the child he had always considered an intruder, "a useless mouth to feed, which is of enemy blood.

\- Stay here, okay? I'm sure Mikhail will be happy to share your hare with you.

Young boys were getting too skinny for Yuri, and one hare would never be enough to feed an adult Shifter. Might as well have the hare feed both youngsters.

Aaron nodded his head and Yuri left their den to find Mikhail's scent. His brother and Eva seemed to have gone back to the throat, and old Nahual soon found his nephew in the cave, listening to the dean of the Clan talk about the few years she had spent among the Vikings when one of them had discovered America.

\- Mikhail, fetch the hare from the game pile and share it with Aaron, you need to feed each other.

The young boy nodded his head barely visible under his layers of clothing, and rushed to the tunnels under the nostalgic gaze of the old woman with her silvery hair, and Yuri greeted her before leaving the camp.

Vassili and Eva were now alone in the glistening snow-covered gorge, the former watching his companion with her light green eyes, her arms crossed over her chest showing her tension, and the latter circling the father of her child with such rage that the Shifter found himself quite content not to be in his brother's place.

\- Ah! Yuri! Good to see you again my brother!

Eva stopped sharply to stare into his grey-blue eyes, a flash of anxiety burning them while Vassili smiled and gave him a look full of vicious mischief that did not bode well.

\- I have learned that you have caused us a lot of problems lately, especially with a Human.

Yuri felt his muscles tense and the beast inside him scolded threateningly in the face of the cold look and overly honeyed tone of his older brother who came closer to him before scolding, rolling up his lips to reveal his shiny white teeth.

\- This story made a lot of noise, Yuri: the tiger disappeared from the PRNCO Tiger Center, as well as that of a photographer who disappeared on the same day near the airport of Zyrianka. A staff member finally testified that the photographer had asked him if a certain "Yuri" was on staff.

His brother took a breath and then took a false sweetness to his pale blond hair shining like golden threads under the pale Russian winter sun.

\- And they finally discovered Asami Ryuichi, who said he had been assaulted by a man named Yuri and a stranger. Your nonsense might never have attracted the attention of the Council, if you hadn't assaulted ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MEN IN JAPAN!!!

The screaming surprised as much as Eva, and both of them retreated in the face of the Clan leader's rage, his lips still rolled up over his teeth as he pointed at him, his eyes sparkling with rage and hatred, and Yuri had to struggle against his instincts to respond violently to this aggression, his reason telling him to wait until his brother calmed down to talk and not provoke a bloodbath. Especially since he wasn't sure which side Eva would choose.

\- Asami Ryuichi is the leader of the most important Garous Clan in Japan and has many contacts with close members of the Council! You have caused our ruin, you fool!

Vassili raised his hand, probably to give him a slap, but was stopped in his gesture by Eva, who grabbed his wrist on the fly and encouraged the younger brother to move away with a slight nod.

\- Well, my darling, if you had stayed here to lead us, you might have been able to avoid this kind of trouble.

Yuri knew better than to stay close to Eva when she took such a soft and deadly tone. Vassili's sweet companion turned into a fierce warrior who could make even the most reckless urinate on her.

And obviously, so did Vassili, for the latter gently lowered his hand, always shooting his companion with his acid green eyes while the latter added, his hand still holding the male's thick wrist, while she raised her hand, taking no doubt a malicious pleasure in reaching into his ego.

\- We managed without you to hunt poachers and survive. So no matter where you come from, don't expect the Clan to welcome you as a hero. I even believe we can continue to do without you.

Vassili remained without a word for about thirty seconds, visibly dumbfounded by the words that his companion would never have dared to say to him before. And Yuri knew that his brother must have already felt angry that he was not so indispensable to the Clan and that his authority was thus openly challenged.

\- I'm still the boss here, Eva. If some people don't like it, let them come and challenge me. In the meantime, I want everyone to gather at the camp. Including the Human you captured. I have some important announcements to make.

Clan activity was different today. Akihito had seen the familiar silhouettes of two young tigers going hunting with an adult who, he was pretty sure, must have been Yuri. Then, as usual, Petrel and Nadia had gone out for their young to play and a small patrol had left, probably to hunt or do what the Clan used to do.

Until this patrol came back with an unknown tiger at its head in Akihito. The young man had learned to know by heart the familiar dance of the orange tiger figures and, thanks to the company Nadia agreed to offer him, he had begun to put names on each of these figures. Eva, Yuri, Stanislas, Adam, Nina, Sofia, Louka, Alexander, Nikolai, Igor, Olga, Agata, Konstantin, Petrel, Nadia and the young Mikhail, Aaron, Iliena, Anastasia, Dimitri and Tamara. Only Vassili - the missing leader - and a small group of old people who apparently remained in the "camp" were unknown to him.

But Akihito had sensed the agitation of the patrol, as if they themselves were confused when their leader suddenly returned, and since then he had not seen any tiger in the woods, and the cabin was too quiet.

\- Akihito?

Nadia's soft voice could be heard through the door she opened after a few seconds, and Akihito felt a faint smile bursting on his lips when he saw the woman with black hair and hazelnut eyes enter the room.

The woman had been extremely kind and gentle with him since the beginning of his captivity, sometimes allowing him to leave his room to help him take care of his four little ones or to help him with certain tasks, despite the disapproval of Petrel, Sofia and Louka who had been guarding him.

It was she who had explained to him what they were and how they worked, and that if he wanted to blame anyone for his captivity, he should blame the Council, which was willing to kill anyone who broke the rules. But it was also she who told him that Yuri was the kind of upright and honorable man who hated using people or abusing their feelings.

He remembered stopping scrubbing wet dishes when she told him this, his heart leaping in his chest in the sudden hope that their relationship had not been skewed, and the sweet smile the woman had when she looked at him out of the corner of her eye before she began to tell how he had brought Aaron back to the camp, protected their Clan from poachers and other stories that had slowly melted Akihito's anger towards the man.

\- You are coming with us, Vassili is back and he has demanded your presence.

Nadia's worried look finally frightened Akihito, who nodded his head before following the woman, part of him blowing the whistle that Eva and Yuri's promise was over now that the real leader had returned, and something telling him that he would not be happy with the presence of a Human among their people.

Everyone in the hall had assumed their tiger-like form and waited patiently for him to wrap himself up in several layers of clothing before trotting off and surrounding him like an escort.

_An escort that takes you straight to your death._

Only the four children seemed unconcerned about the tension that weighed on the group, playing to continue around them with excited peeps, sometimes forcing Petrel to roar to bring them back to order, his stern golden eyes sufficient to calm the children for a few minutes.

The tigers walked in perfect silence, their ears stuck back, the solemnity in their eyes and the movements of their tails betraying their nervousness and probably a certain apprehension that Akihito could vaguely understand. He too would be worried about the sudden return of a chief who had decided to disappear for months. And from what he knew, Vassili did not seem to be a very charming person.

As for him, he was content to walk while listening to the squealing of the snow under the deer boots that had been offered to him, protecting his face as best he could from the biting cold and the merciless wind that had begun to blow, making swirls of snow powder fly with him, making the little ones cry out in admiration.

Would Yuri try to protect him? If what Nadia had said was true, could he still hope for his help? What about his parents? Could he at least write them a last word apologizing for not having heard from them since he moved to Tokyo? And apologize to Ai for her behavior of the last few days?

Akihito bit his lips when the beasts around him turned into fully dressed humans - Nadia had explained to him that only clothes made, even partially, of Shifter allowed them to keep clothes on their human backs - and they climbed a slight slope where a partly frozen river flowed and sank between two moss covered rocky cliffs.

\- Around here, you'd better hold on to Petrel if you don't want to slip.

Nadia pushed him gently with one hand on her back and motioned for her children to come back to her as they pushed further down, until they came to a wide crack that almost seemed to cut the cliff in half and was plunged into a suffocating, blind darkness. The red-haired man grabbed her wrist before going inside, visibly having no trouble slipping into the gut of slippery rocks covered with lichen and moss and guiding himself through it, where he was completely blind and had to walk carefully so as not to slip, the only sound he could hear being the breathing and footsteps of the group members.

Finally, they reached the end of the gut and Akihito had to squint his eyes so as not to be blinded by the brightness of the sunlight flowing from a hole at the top of a cave big enough to accommodate the entire Clan.

\- Keep a low profile during the assembly.

Nadia gave him one last piece of advice before she walked away with her companion and her children near a group of wrinkled, gray-haired Nahuals who had turned gray with age while the others mingled with the few comrades present. Akihito searched the crowd, looking for a place that could hide him from the chief's gaze, until he saw Yuri with Eva and their two little ones.

The woman with the blue-gray eyes beckoned him to come and stood on tiptoe to whisper something to Yuri, who seemed to notice at last, and the young man felt a knot in his belly as he saw the look of a beaten dog in his icy eyes for a few moments before he turned his eyes away to a ledge on the edge of a high cave.

Uncomfortable, Akihito settled down close to them, keeping a distance from Yuri while the pained look of the man who had been a good friend haunted him and he couldn't help staring at the man with almost platinum hair out of the corner of his eye, a sudden desire to get closer to him and find the Yuri he had known hitting him like a wave.

\- Clan of the Arbatovs!

The young man almost leapt with fear at this sudden roar that seemed to resound like the roar of a thunderstorm throughout the cave, and raised his head to see that a man was standing on the rocky ledge that Yuri had been looking at a few seconds earlier.

The man was tall, although not as tall as Yuri, and had foamy eyes and hair that was darker than Yuri's. The man was a tall man, although not as tall as Yuri, and had foamy eyes and hair that was darker than Yuri's. No one could deny that they were brothers despite the distinct differences in their features and characters.

\- I have gathered the Clan on this day because I have some great news to tell you: First of all, know that I have not abandoned you. I left in secret because some of you would have questioned my decisions.

Close to him, Yuri is reaching out and Akihito can easily imagine him clenching his jaws and casting acid looks at his brother who is a little too charismatic in the eyes of the young man.

\- I made contact with the head of the Bratva, the Russian mafia. As you know, the main branch is actually one of the largest Garou Clans in the world.

The man stopped for a few seconds, taking a breath under the restless murmurs of the Nahuals - and Akihito is pretty sure that the news has created a wave of discontent among them.

\- We're leaving here in a month. We are joining this clan of Garous.

Screams break out and ferocious protests break out. Apparently, even though these Shifters had a great tendency to consider the orders as indisputable, they sometimes asked for explanations. Especially when it came to joining those they considered enemies.

Annoyed, Vassili roars, discovering his fangs in a furious expression, his eyes towards throwing lightning bolts to the assembly below him. Akihito understood better why the Clan did not seem in a hurry to find their authoritarian and tyrannical leader.

\- Why eh? Because I'm tired of seeing our Clan struggling in a useless survival! To die of hunger and disease every winter! To see so few kittens being born! To have to fight against poachers who would have done us no harm if we had lived like the Garous!

Panting breath, murmurs and skeptical looks exchanged or outraged.

\- Why are we stuck here, living like beasts and struggling to live, when the whole world is reaching out to us? We could travel the world, eat our fill every day, be warm and enjoy the most advanced care! We could study, do the job we want and live the way we want! We could...

\- I have been living here... for almost a thousand years, Vassili.

Suddenly silence fell, and even Vassili fell silent to turn to an old lady in the still haughty port, advancing towards the cornice, her misty blue eyes landing on Vassili, then on the assembly, and the young man felt a form of respect for the woman impose itself in him.

\- Leave if you wish, Vassili. But my life is here and has always been here. Our life may not be the easiest and the happiest, but it is a life worth knowing: We know suffering, but also the joy of birth and love, the happiness of running freely and being part of a close-knit group where everyone is in their place.

His eyes sparkle with pride and emotion to the point that the young man is surprised to feel moved by his speech.

\- I lived for a millennium Vassili. And I can assure you of one thing: Garus may have the world to themselves, but their existence is often ephemeral and marked by the primary instincts they repress deep inside. Many of them are criminals, serial killers, rapists... They may claim to be evolved and civilized, but in reality many of them are unable to manage their instincts and create unhappiness around them. And this is what saves us, Nahuals: We live in harmony with the beast within us, and this allows us to live long and nobly. And even though our life is hard, it teaches us much more than schools ever could.

The old woman shook her head, looking sad to see her Clan like this, and added in a hoarse and determined voice, her eyes looking at them as if she didn't really see them. Perhaps she was seeing those she had once known? Or was she disappointed to see a once proud Clan willing to give up their way of life for the sake of convenience?

\- Leave if you want to, but I'll stay here until the end.

The silvery-haired Nahual walked away to the caves to sit on the edge of it in an almost deadly silence. Even Vassili had the decency to look embarrassed and coughed before Eva spoke, her thin arms folded across her chest, a gleam of revolt illuminating her grey-blue eyes.

\- I refuse to leave, Vassili. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks your idea is stupid.

\- I agree with Eva. Go with those who want to, we will stay here.

Next to Yuri, Aaron swelled his small chest, visibly proud that his adoptive father was speaking. And Vassili exploded for good. He uttered a roar that frightened Akihito and made many Nahuals take a few steps back, and jumped off the ledge, his face red and distorted by rage, his green eyes staring at his brother with an apparent murderous desire.

\- You? I thought so! You were always jealous of me, you always wanted to take my place!

Yuri cautiously stepped back, his hands in front of him in an attempt to calm him down, letting Eva grab Aaron to keep the kittens behind her while Vassili sneered, a nasty look on his face, and Akihito felt his blood freezing in his veins when the green eyes landed on him.

\- It doesn't matter. You may have succeeded in undermining my authority, but you will not take away my family and my Clan. Because I warned the Council about your little escapades with your whore. They're on their way to pick you up.

Vassili did not have time to savor his little victory. Yuri threw himself on him, uttering a roar that would have frightened all the animals out of the forest, and began to punch his brother in the face, the latter struggling with difficulty under the heavier weight that was Yuri, his nails scratching the muscular arms that beat him while he gurgling unanswered cries for help.

None of the clan members dared to move, looking on in shock at the battle unfolding before them, and Akihito felt paralyzed by the horror. Yuri was going to kill him. The face of the proud leader was already beginning to be unrecognizable under the blood, and the giant didn't seem to be ready to stop, carried away by a rage he had never seen before.

His legs moved on their own. Akihito saw himself running near the two men and heard himself shouting "Stop! "and grabbed the man's shoulders in a desperate attempt to separate them.

He was expecting Yuri to turn around and hit him in his blind rage, but surprisingly, the man let him pull him away from his brother and blinked several times as if he finally came to his senses, and took an ulcerated look at the bloody Nahual who whimpered on the ground and crawled away, blood wetting the snowy cave floor.

\- Fuck you, Vassili. You know what? You are the most pitiful leader I have ever seen. Our parents must be turning over in their graves.

Yuri turned to him for a moment, his icy eyes looking at him with the same warmth he did when he thought he was a staff member. And Akihito felt his heartbeat subside, strangely reassured that the Shifter had nothing.

The Shifter put his wounded and bloody hand on his shoulder and told Eva to take care of Aaron while he was away before guiding him out of the camp, the restlessness resuming when they left.

Akihito let the man guide him through the forest, feeling extremely aware of the warm hand gently pressing on his shoulder and the body walking at the same pace as his in an almost too quiet silence. He had not forgotten the night he had spent with the Shifter, and Nadia's words had only confused him even more. And now...

Akihito was pretty sure of the Shifter's feelings towards him. His tenderness, the gentle manner in which he had made love to him, his despair when he had found him because it meant it was their end, his attempts to talk to him, perhaps in the hope of appeasing his anger and explaining his actions, and the sudden aggression when his brother had condemned them both.

But he was unsure of his own feelings. And what had just happened had been a paving stone thrown into the pool of his troubled emotions: He could no longer deny the nature of his feelings, but at the same time they frightened him.

He liked the warmth of Nahual's gaze when he looked at him, his discreet presence at his side despite his size and build, his generally calm and thoughtful character, the way he cared for him... And if he was sincere, his anger towards Nahual stemmed mainly from the fact that he still loved him despite what had happened to him. He resented him for making him feel this emotion, he who wanted so much to be able to hate him.

\- Can you get the first aid kit, please?

Yuri opened the door of the Foyer, beckoning him to come in first, and Akihito obeyed, digging through his memories to remember where they kept the damn kit as nervousness caught up with him. Should he tell Yuri about it? Ask him what was waiting for them? Or was that why the Nahual had brought him here?

He found the kit in the laundry closet, and returned to the dining room near the entrance to see Yuri sitting on a chair, his icy gaze seemingly lost in thought.

\- Show me your hands.

The young man took a deep breath, trying to keep some confidence as he took a chair to sit beside Yuri and inspect his fingers, avoiding the piercing look of the Russian.

\- I'm sorry Akihito. I had hoped that we would go under the Council's radar.

The large hands trembled with nervousness and adrenaline between his own, and Akihito gently squeezed them, leaving his doubts aside for once and acting on his instincts. Yuri had been there for him after Asami had broken him. It was up to him to be present now that their death was inevitable.

\- I don't blame you Yuri. All you did was be there for me when I needed you. It was Asami who started the damn machine. And Vasilis is the one who pushed the red button.

He disinfected his fingers, grimaced at the sight of the phalanges that were nothing but shredded flesh and white bones, and dabbed them gently with absorbent cotton and added, his voice trembling as his belly became knotted.

\- I'm...I'm sorry. For the way I treated you when you came to talk to me. I was hurt, and I refused to listen to you.

Yuri's hands move, taking his face in a cup to force him to look at it and plunge his moist eyes into his own, and the familiar warmth of his eyes seems to spread to his own body.

\- You don't have to apologize, your reaction was perfectly normal.

Yuri's hands went down and Akihito nodded his head before dressing the wounds and finally daring to whisper, his chest contracting under the sudden lack of oxygen, his head straightening to plunge them into Yuri's again.

\- I guess this is the right time to say I love you?

The Shifter stayed coi for a few seconds, before letting a smile light up his face and a deep purr came out of the man's chest, and Akihito felt all the tension finally disappear.

It was said, and the Nahual had reacted positively. The hard part was done.

Yuri's hands lay on his waist, warm and rough, but in a delicate grip, as if he was afraid of hurting him, and Akihito let himself melt into this grip, leaving his chair to sit on Yuri's lap, one of his hands resting on the man's hard face to caress him, unable to take his eyes off the man.

He could not take his eyes off him except to close his eyes and bend his face close to his own before sealing their lips.

Warm fingers sliding under his layers of clothing to caress his skin, warm and firm body pressed against his own, his fingers sliding through the pale gold hair to wrap themselves around and appreciate their softness.

\- When will they arrive?

His voice sounded almost desperate in the empty room, a large part of him just wanting to huddle up to the other man and forget. Yuri raised one of his hands to caress his hair before whispering softly:

\- In a short time I imagine, if they followed Vassili. I will do everything to save you from the death penalty, I promise you.

The hand on his back made soothing circles, and Akihito felt his throat tighten in front of the sad and loving gaze of the Nahual who seemed confident in what he was saying.

\- What about you?

A hand plunged into his hair and Yuri's silence was his answer. The young man swallowed the ball from his throat and nodded his head before the Nahual gently pushed it back down from his knees.

\- I'm not sure I'll be able to control myself if we continue.

Regret pierced through Yuri's voice and the man stroked his hair one last time with his bandaged hand before blowing, his eyes taking on a dreamy look.

\- If only you had been born Nahual, or I Human.... Things would have been so different.

The young man could only shake his head, feeling strangely empty now that everything was said and done. There was nothing left for them to do except to wait for those who would drag them to the Council and take a shower to try to erase the other's scent and mask it with artificial perfumes.

They didn't have to wait long before Yuri suddenly turned his gaze towards the small road, hearing something he couldn't perceive. Then he perceived it too, the rumbling of engines that eventually stopped near the entrance. The Council.

\- We are the Mandataries of the Council. Those with the names of Yuri Arbatov and Akihito Takaba are asked to come out.

_This is it. It's time to go._

Yuri opened the door, letting in four Shifters dressed in the same type of clothing as the Nahual and holding chains. One of them, a man with long ink hair and golden-brown eyes of almost bewitching intensity, approached them and sniffed the air for a few seconds before clamoring.

\- You are requested to follow us to the Council where you will be judged for 1, revealing our existence to a Human, 2, kidnapping the said Human and assaulting a member of the Council, and 3, having forbidden relations with the Human.

Two of the Shifters present approached Yuri with the chains and wrapped them around him, locking his arms behind his back in a way that would make the position uncomfortable or even painful, and barely leaving him enough slack to walk without tripping, and they grabbed him by the arms and dragged him out where he was thrown into the back seat of one of the cars.

\- As for you, Little Human....

The long-haired Shifter took out a pair of handcuffs and Akihito let him handcuff his hands. Clearly, neither Shifter seemed to be worried about the potential danger he might be in. He was only a Human, and they were ferocious beasts whose human form had superhuman strength and super sharp senses. He clearly posed no risk to them.

The man with long hair treated him more gently than Yuri was entitled to, as he was just pushed forward with one hand on his shoulder and was left to sit in the back seat by himself.

The doors slammed shut, and Akihito pressed his face against the glass and had a faint smile when he finally met Yuri's gaze, who smiled gently back and quietly articulated something that Akihito identified as "I'll take care of it," and his smile faded as he remembered that the Nahual would accept his own sentence.

_But I don't want you to die either. Have you thought about your clan? About Aaron? About me? They need you, and so do I. If the Gods exist, they can't let something so cruel happen...._

Sitting in the passenger seat, the long-haired Shifter stared at him for a long time through the rear-view mirror and looked away when the cars rumbled and started, a vague pinch of guilt burning his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> The Nahuals of my story, received their name from the creature of the same name in Mesoamerican mythology: it is a guardian spirit who is linked to a person to whom he gives the power to transform himself into an animal.  
> The Nahuals, being attentive to their human and animal parts, have no problem taking their two different forms.
> 
> The Garous (comes from the word loup-garou in French) in my story are so called because they so suffocate their animal part (considered bad because it brings back the state of a wild beast) that it sometimes ends up resurfacing, in such a state of anger and frustration that the Garous find themselves unable to control it, like werewolves who become wolves periodically and don't know how to control their actions on those full moon nights.


End file.
